Queen Bees and Wannabes
by Ame-chan94
Summary: Hermione Granger wants to be popular. Some people may think that this is impossible, but with just the right help from Pansy... Draco x Hermione :: More pairings are revealed as the story proceeds!
1. The Dummies' Guide to Humour

_AN: Hello all! This is my second fan fiction and first ever chapter story. The characters are OOC (just warning you!) and chapter stories aren't really my thing, but I thought i might give it a go. Sorry if it's bad (which it probably is) so reviews would be greatly appreciated!_

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_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of these characters. The very rich woman living in England does. I am just a fan :]**_

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter One - The dummies' guide to humour_

Hermione stumbled on the trick step and nearly risked the tall pile of heavy thick volumes falling out of her arms. She heard snickering from behind her and blushed with embarrassment, which soon turned into a glare when she realised who it was. It was easy to recognise him with the white blonde hair, a colour _too_ white that she suspected that a permanent glamour charm had been placed on it since birth. Or maybe he was some kind of mutant wherein the natural process of blonde hair to brown never took place. Hermione giggled at the thought but was soon put out of her trance by the sound of her name from his lips.

"Granger."

Draco was walking down the hallway with Blaise and Goyle when he saw a slender figured brunette miss the trick step and watched as her body fell forwards. He was about to catch her when he realised who she was, the _Mudblood_, and stood aside watching as the books she was holding threatened to collapse on her. Blaise snickered at this and was soon joined in by Draco and Goyle―Draco because he wanted to cover up the lapse in judgement he almost made, and Goyle because well… Goyle didn't understand what he was supposed to be snickering about but doing what others did was his ultimate rule for survival so he just followed along with Blaise. As the figure turned around, and now Draco was a hundred and ten percent that it was her, he saw the remnants of a blush followed closely by a scowl and glare. This soon gave way to a different expression on her face, one of ―perhaps _amusement_? ―and so he said her name to announce his presence and bring her back to reality.

This obviously had the intended effect because the blankness in her eyes returned to their usual brightness and she also acknowledged him.

"Malfoy."

Hermione inwardly reprimanded herself for spacing out (she really had been doing that far too much lately) and wondered what he could want this time. Couldn't it be enough that he had seen her once again make a fool of herself and be content with it? But no, she supposed that Malfoy could never be Malfoy without flinging some sort of insult at her once a day, and of course, she had just given him another _brilliant_ opportunity to attack.

Unfortunately for Malfoy who was just about to make a winning remark about her clumsiness, Goyle suddenly got it into his head that somehow saying his insult which he had been saving all month for (he had read it in _A __wizard's guide to achieving humour_) would earn him glory amongst his friends.

"Did you have a nice _trip_, Granger?" Goyle tried his best to dip his words with sarcasm, but this unfortunately came out a little more high-pitched and squeaky than he had anticipated. So really, what came out sounded more like this: "Did you have a nice trip, _Gran― _(on this syllable his voice went up) ―ger?" Puberty was a stage Goyle had never really passed, even at seventeen years of age. His comment was met by raised eyebrows from all around the circle.

Hermione knew that Goyle was stupid, but she didn't expect him to be stupid AND unoriginal. Really, being stupid was fine but once you opened your mouth then it just gets a whole lot worse. Like this situation. The comment Goyle had made was so highly unoriginal that even a third grader could have done a better job. It sounded like it came out of some kind of cheap remake of the 'For Dummies' series from the muggle world. Hermione had seen them in the library and attempted to read one, but the obvious crossing out with black marker on the title and insertion of the word 'wizards' had turned her off. She wouldn't be highly surprised if Goyle _did_ possess such a book. The step by step instructions were easy enough to follow for someone who has even half a brain.

Malfoy was cornered into feeling shame at his follower's actions, and so without making the marvellous comment he was about to say, he simply nodded his head in the direction of their next class and said:

"Come on, let's go. It's not worth our breath talking to a mudblood."

Hermione felt her anger brew at this. How dare he? _He_ was the one who had said something to her first. Hermione swallowed this anger and spun on her heels and continued on her ascent up the stairs, a second too late because by this time Draco had already reached the end of the hallway.

* * *

By the end of the Transfiguration class Hermione's thoughts had been swimming with only one thing. Why did she take Draco's shit anyway? Sure, he was the person everybody feared and would hate to be on his bad side, but he rarely liked to pick on others regularly except for herself, Harry and Ron. She could have made comebacks, but apart from when her friends were around she lost the confidence to tell Malfoy to take his attitude and stick it up his arse. She knew the reason for this clearly. Apart from her fellow Gryffindors and select few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, no one would support her even if she did make a comeback, so why go through the effort. Perhaps if she was popular with heaps of friends then she would get Malfoy off her back. This idea intrigued her, and Hermione was soon fantasizing about the confidence she would gain, and the privilege of others respecting her. Though she was the brightest witch of her year and the best friend of the Boy-Who-Lived, she hardly received any admiration from the students, so this was a secret dream she yearned for. Awakened from her daydreams by a chorus of voices, she noted that they were from a large crowd which had gathered blocking access to the corridor that lead to the dormitories. Hearing the voices of Draco and Pansy this aroused in her an interest which she knew she shouldn't be having. Standing on tippy-toes Hermione barely managed to see the two people who were at the centre of attention, one with dark, sleek hair and the other a blonde. Pansy and Draco. Hermione didn't need to strain her ears to hear what they were saying, despite the murmuring and hushed voices from the crowd of students from all different year levels.

"But­―but Drakieee! You don't mean that do you? Pleaaase don't do this (sob) I'll be better! I promise! Just…just" Here Pansy's voice was consumed by a great dramatic bout of sobs.

"Pansy, let GO of me." Draco gritted out through his scowl. By this time Hermione could see that both of Pansy's arms were wrapped around Draco's chest and her head glued firmly to his back, much to the displeasure of Draco.

"Pansy, I said it's over. I can't stand you and you are nothing more to me than a slut that's been used one time too many. Hell, get your fucking arms off me woman!"

Hermione spotted Seamus standing at the edge of the crowd like herself and so made her way over.

"Psst…Seamus, what just happened? Why is Malfoy breaking up with Parkinson _here_?" Though she lacked experience in love, common sense was a top attribute for Hermione and even she knew that breaking up in the middle of the corridors was a bad idea. Maybe this was some kind of sick way to gain attention? But no, Hermione knew that Draco Malfoy, despite his evil ways would not lower himself to this filthy standard. Attention was something that said Draco Malfoy had been born with, and so such a shallow action would not be needed.

Seamus was surprised to find Hermione here and doubly surprised when she didn't exert her role as Head Girl and break up the drama. He was triply surprised and shocked when she seemed to be showing an interest for this gossip.

"Think Parkinson was saying something about the Hogsmead weekend before Draco cracked it at her. Probably something about a date from what I hear. Then, you know the rest. They've been at this for almost 10 whole minutes now." Seamus looked at his watch incredulously.

Hermione couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the girl. Everybody knew her as the school slut but it would have hurt to hear it from your boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend. Pansy Parkinson was pretty, popular and had power (the three Ps) but the only mistake was a boyfriend who did not love her. Maybe if Pansy was _nice_ then somebody would love her. Hermione knew that sympathy for Pansy was bad, that Pansy had probably slept with almost as many boys as Malfoy had slept with girls, but the feminist in Hermione raged at the unfairness of it all. The popular guys were considered legends for the number of girls they'd been with, but the girls were called 'sluts' and 'whores'. Here, Pansy was dropped in front of a huge crowd and suffered humiliation whilst Malfoy, the insensitive jerk, couldn't care less apart from getting away from the pair of weak arms that were desperately clutching his body to hers.

Draco finally tore away the arms that were holding him from behind. Giving a quick once over of the crowd and one last look at Pansy, who was now a miserable wreck on the floor, he strode off.

As the crowd started clearing, Pansy was still on the floor, kneeling as her legs sprawled on either side of her. Nobody moved to help her up because they were all terrified of this girl. Hermione at this moment felt an invisible force drawing her to the dark haired girl, and felt the stirrings of something within her heart.

"Pansy?" The pair of red eyes glared up at her and behind the Hermione saw many different emotions behind the glassy exterior. Overwhelming sadness dominated it. Without saying anything else, Hermione slowly held Pansy's hand and gently pulled her up.

Pansy was now standing on her feet and let herself be lead by Hermione to the Slytherine common room down in the dungeons. Along the way there, neither glance nor word was exchanged between the two of them.

* * *

Pansy sat at the edge of her bed. Hermione had situated herself on a nearby armchair and was waiting for Pansy to speak. Just as Hermione got up and turned the knob of the door, she heard the distinctive voice of the other girl, this time not plagued by tears.

"Thank you."

Hermione waited.

"Why are you doing this for me?" This was the question she knew Pansy would ask, but her own thoughts were confusing even to herself. She tried, honestly she did to put it into words but found that she could not.

"I… I don't know. I guess…I…"

"I don't like owing people anything." Pansy's voice was blunt. She proceeded, "name your price. What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything…"

"Just name it already! I told you I don't have the fucking time to listen your fucking bullshit!" Pansy had in annoyance gotten up from the bed and was now inches away from Hermione.

Hermione was dumbfounded for an instance. In the next, she thought about her secret desire and oh-how-easy it would be for Pansy to give it to her.

"I want you to teach me how to be popular."

Hermione was expecting some kind nasty remark but all she got instead was an:

"Okay, just give me a few days to…sort myself out. Then we'll start."

Pansy's voice sounded weak and thin, obviously Hermione had underestimated the tiredness and fatigue Pansy was facing.

Without another word Pansy waved a hand at Hermione to leave her and Hermione willingly obliged. The door closed behind her with a soft _click_.

_Like it? Hate it? Sadly i can't read minds so leave me a review to let me know! :P Thank you!_

_- Y_


	2. Ugly Ducklings and Fake Lashes

_**AN:** Hello readers! It's so good to get reviews from you and so I was so motivated by them, I finished this story in 2 days._

_Part of the reason why I wanted to get this up is because I would like to thank my readers. This is the first time I have this chance so here goes:_

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__Thank you for those who have **reviewed**:_

_**ladybella101, georginacastleorpington, MrsBlaCKwIfeY and Erindanus1123**_

_Thanks for those of you who have added this story to their **alert** list:_

_**ladybella101, georginacastleorpington, MrsBlaCKwIfeY and minerdude**_

_Thank you to the people who have **favourited** this story:_

_**MrsBlaCKwIfeY, Kit-Kat931, elainamichelle**_

_And thank you **ladybella101** for adding **me** to your **favourites** and **alerts**_

**_Special thanks to Erindanus1123 for all her help and I really haven't thanked her enough! =MWA= kisses_**

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_Once again, please R&R! Long reviews = Love_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters apart from Aira, Cadria and Chantelle. They are mine! You can have them if you want though :)**

_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter Two: Ugly ducklings and fake lashes_

It had been a whole week since Hermione had last spoken to Pansy in her room. After being dumped, Pansy was getting thinner, a sure sign that she wasn't doing too well. Hermione desperately wanted to help her, to question Pansy why she was letting a bastard ruin her life, but every time the brunette got close to her and made a move to speak she was immediately greased off by Pansy and pushed away by those around her. So Pansy did have friends after all. Hermione felt relieved at this but could not help but wonder why they had not come to her rescue that time.

It was another week before Pansy made a move to talk to Hermione. This time Pansy's dark hair was loosely falling onto her shoulders and her aura, if possible, was even more attention demanding than before. So Pansy was better.

"Granger, I've come to do what I promised. Let's just get this over with."

Few other thoughts were entertained n Hermione's mind before Pansy had grabbed her by the arm and dragged her in the direction of the dungeons…

Hermione found herself face to face with the group of girls that were around Pansy before, the ones who had shoved her away. She swallowed nervously, not knowing how Pansy was going to explain this to them. Little explanations were needed however, as she realised that these girls were in fact _smiling_ at her. Or at least opening their mouths and showing her their perfectly white teeth.

There was one girl who stood a head taller than the other two. Her complexion was smooth and olive toned. The girl's features were aristocratic from the tall European nose to the prominent cheek bones. Dark, glossy, brown waves lusciously cascaded down her shoulders reaching her waist. Hermione thought that this must have been one of the most beautiful girls she had ever set eyes on.

Not to outdone by the obvious authority of the previous girl, the two other girls were brilliant blondes. They were twins. One stood up tall and proud with an air that said: People adore me and so should you. The second girl shrunk into her thin frame but her bright eyes were focused shyly, albeit intensely on Hermione's. Both girls were adorned with the same beautiful features: Blue-green eyes shielded beneath long, thick lashes. The two girls remind Hermione of a pair of dolls. The proud girl wore her hair with the fringe pinned back and the rest of her hair in two long pigtails. The smaller, shyer girl's hair was cropped short and stylish with a straight fringe that cut across her forehead.

"This is Aira, Cadria and Chantelle." Pansy pointed out each girl to Hermione in turn.

She then turned around to give brief instructions to the group of girls who all gleamed at Hermione before looking towards Pansy.

"Alright girls, I want a thorough job. No excuses. And at least try to tame that thing on top of her head."

Despite Pansy's words, Hermione could see a glint of excitement in her eyes as she attacked Hermione with a pair of scissors.

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Standing in front of the mirror, Hermione's eyes were wide with amazement. True to her word, Pansy and her friends were experts in fashion and had turned the ugly little duckling into a beautiful white swan, fluffy white feathers included.

In the reflection stood a girl of Hermione's height and build. The girl behind the glass donned a black, strapless, silk dress that cinched at her waist and ended just before her knees. A thick white sash of smooth material ran across her stomach to form a bow at the back. It was simple but it suited her. Moving her gaze downwards, following the thin legs she stopped at the feet, which sported a pair of black stilettos. Quickly she shifted her eyes to look back up again and found herself to be wearing a long pearl necklace which had been wrapped twice around her neck and settled just under her chest. She gingerly reached up with one hand to touch it and knew the pearls were real, not some cheap imitation. Her wrists were similarly decorated with matching jewellery, but the whole effect was kept to a minimum and not overdone. They had done a good job. Hermione was surprised to find that even her hair had been tamed. What was normally a frizz of revolt, the girls had taken advantage of its natural contour and Pansy with her scissors had thinned it out. It now sat piled on top of her head in a loose yet classy bun and the loose hair that had once driven Hermione mad now fell about framing her face, and made a statement that said: casual, but nevertheless elegant.

"You look gorgeous!" It was Aira, the eldest of the girls who had spoken. As if motivated by this comment from the second in command, the two younger girls which Hermione had yet to recall the names of started excitedly talking at once.

"Oh my God! You TOTALLY do, babe! We did a good job, riiight?" Cadria ―or was it Chantelle― had all but jumped in front of Hermione in her excitement.

"Um…. Yeah….thank you!" Hermione was at a loss for words because the voice of Cadria (she had remembered the name after a minute) was way too high and girly for her liking.

Hermione found that she much preferred Chantelle's demureness than Cadria's loud and girly personality. The small girl turned towards Hermione, her voice soft and childish sounding. "She's right you know. You look pretty." No large gestures or loud screaming in her ear (unlike Cadria) was needed for Hermione to experience the meaning and truth behind those words. Hermione found that it was too easy to like the shy girl.

The only one who had not made a comment was Pansy. All four pairs of eyes turned to look at their leader, who simply said to her audience, "Come on. Time to show off our work."

* * *

By now it was dinner time and they four girls were almost running late. On the way to the Great Hall, Hermione found herself whispering in the ear of Pansy.

"I really like this new makeover, but how exactly is this going to help me become popular?"

"Shush. Listen to me and follow my instructions. I promise you that pretty soon every boy will be falling at your feet."

"I don't want…." Hermione peered over her shoulder to catch the smile that Pansy threw her. She smiled back and wondered whether this might be the first time Pansy, the Queen Bee of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had done so. _And more importantly_, she thought to herself, _whether that smile will happen again_.

Pansy, Hermione, Aira, Cadria and Chantelle stood in front of the massive doors which lead to the Great Hall. They were officially the last students to enter.

"Ready?" Pansy whispered into Hermione's ear.

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded shakily.

"Relax," Aira smiled at her (Hermione was starting to get used to having the most popular and prettiest girls in school smile at her now), "We have to show the whole school our newest project."

Though normally Hermione would have instantly felt anger at being referred to as a 'project', Aira's words were said without malice beneath them and strung together in such a way that she felt sudden calmness.

That was before the girls pushed the doors open. Immediately thousands of pairs of eyes were fixed on the group, and mostly importantly, HER. Hermione forced herself to meet the eyes of everyone in the room and found on their faces, unadulterated shock. Her eyes went to the Gryffindor table to see Harry with his mouth open, food still in it. Ron's face was flushed every bit as red as his hair and this took her back to fourth year, the Yule Ball. She bit back a smile. Ginny managed to catch her attention and silently mouthed to her 'congrats' and raised a thumbs up.

Unintentionally, Hermione's eyes drifted to the Slytherin table where Draco sat. She was surprised but happy that even the Prince of Slytherin, who was in no dire lack of gorgeous girls, was ―dare she say― eyeing her with lust. She smirked _his_ famous smirk. Feeling quite courageous now, she caught the eyes of several boys and winked at them, then proceeded to blow kisses. She could hear the laughter of delight coming from behind her and turned back for a brief moment to give them a slight wave, before heading off in the direction of the Gryffindor table.

A hand grabbed hers and she was surprised that Pansy was tugging at it, pulling her in the direction of the Slytherins. Hermione gave a little gasp at was Pansy was requiring her to do, but Pansy gave her a look that said: 'Protest and I will have your head' and all but dragged her to the table of green and silver. Hermione felt an arm wrap around her waist and looked up to meet the sly look in Aira's eyes. Caught between Pansy and Aira, the unwilling Gryffindor was taken towards the rival house, with Chantelle and Cadria following behind giggling.

Hermione was confused when Pansy's group made for the head of the table, the place where Draco and Blaise were dominating. Sensing her confusion, Pansy whispered to her, "The top will always sit at the top. Everything is fine between us now."

As if proving her point, Draco cheerfully greeted them.

"Pansy, Aira, Cadria, Chantelle. We were all waiting for you. And tell me, what _have_ you done with Hermione Granger?" Draco flashed Hermione a wink at this stage and this gave her a slight jolt. _Draco Malfoy_, hater of all muggles, Gryffindors, know-it-alls and virgins (the four core points that defined Hermione's existence) had just winked at _her. _The last time Hermione checked, mortal enemies who hated each other did NOT go around giving each other suggestive winks. When at last she registered this fact, the other girls were all seated in the only spare chairs.

"Need a chair Granger? Come sit here." Draco patted his lap, which made Cadria and Chantelle cough hard to stifle their giggles.

"That's enough Draco. Hitting on a girl in front of your ex-girlfriend is not nice, especially when she also happens to be the friend of said ex." Pansy's voice was light and teasing, but the message beneath her words did not go unnoticed. So Pansy wasn't as over Draco as she made out to be.

"Oh come on Pans," Draco used his favourite nickname for his friend, "You know I'm only joking. Besides, where is she going to sit?"

All it took was one look from Pansy to a wannabe that was sitting next to Blaise for the seat to be vacated. Hermione threw a questioning glance towards Pansy that asked, _you want me to sit next to Blaise?_ Pansy shrugged to answer her question.

Hermione walked around the table to the side near the wall where the seat was and sat down. Now, the seating arrangement went: wannabe, fan girl, wannabe, wannabe, Hermione and Blaise on the side with the wall, facing all the other houses. Draco, of course, sat at the head of the table and on his left sat Pansy, looking every bit a queen surrounded by her royal subjects. Aira, Cadria and Chantelle sat facing Blaise and Hermione (and the desperate wannabe) in that order from the head of the table, down. Hermione was surprised to find that Crabbe and Goyle were not sitting with them and searched for them. She was sure that at the last dinner they had been sitting in this exact spot.

"They ate too much yesterday and fell sick." Blaise surprised her by reading her mind.

"Oh"

"I like the change, Granger."

"Thanks"

"Pansy must have cast a powerful glamour charm over you to make you look this good."

"Nope, she didn't. But thank you?"

"Are those fake lashes? Nobody can have eyelashes that long."

"No Zabini, everything is a_u natural_ except for the mascara."

"Really? Mind if I feel them to check?"

Hermione rolled her eyes good naturedly at Blaise's obvious flirting. She was astonished that talking to him would be so easy. Hermione at this point turned towards the teachers. Didn't they realise that the Head Girl, a Gryffindor, was sitting on the Slytherin table? Even more so, the Head Girl who happened to be _Hermione Granger_ was sitting with people who were supposed to be her _mortal enemies_ at the _head_ of the Slytherin table.

_Sitting wherever you want is one of the privileges of being a Head Granger. Besides, the teachers are probably overjoyed at what they think might be the unity of the Heads and the two rival houses._

The voice of Draco Malfoy had entered her head.

Hey! Get out Malfoy! Give me some personal space!

_If you want personal space then why are you wearing that Granger? The sure fire way to guarantee personal space is to not shower for a week and wear the ghastly hair like you normally do._

_Bugger off Malfoy. The only person I want personal space away from is YOU._

_Ouch that hurts Granger, cut me real deep._

Good. Now, leave me alone or I'll hex you.

_Fine. Not that I'm scared of you, but you are getting boring anyway._

Fine. Good.

_Fine. I…_

I thought you were leaving Malfoy.

_I am. Just. Watch. Me._

Hermione was relieved when Draco got out of her head. What was with him anyway? One minute he would hate her and the next he was showing an unusual amount of interest in her. _Boys_, they were something that the female species would never understand.

* * *

Dinner ended without any further surprises, and soon Hermione found herself walking back to the Head dorms after parting hugs and kisses to her new girlfriends. Before she even made it there, Hermione was ambushed by a pair of hands. The first thought she had was that it was Draco, because he _did_ share the dorm with her, but a woman's voice brought a smile to her lips.

"Ginny!"

Ginny Weasley had on a look of anger, but at the same time curiosity.

"Why did you sit at the Slytherin table?"

"Sorry Ginny, I was literally dragged there by Pansy and Aira. They wouldn't let me sit with the Gryffindors."

"So now you are on first name terms with them?"

Hermione had not realised that she no longer called Pansy, 'Parkinson' or Aira, 'Lettamen'. Cadria and Chantelle she had never met before because they were in the year below, Ginny's year.

"Sorry Ginny, I just wanted―"

"―to be popular." Ginny finished off for her. Ginny was her best girlfriend so of course she could read her mind. "Now, answer my next question. Are you willing to share your newfound popularity and male attention?"

Ginny smiled at Hermione to show that she wasn't angry with her.

"So, are you willing to share it all with me, your best girlfriend? Or am I dropped because you have other friends now?"

"Sure Ginny. You ARE my best girlfriend after all."

"Okay, I trust you."

The two girls mutually exchanged grins before parting each to their own ways, anxious to be in bed after a long day.

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_Preview for chapter 3: _

"_I'm serious, Granger. Why else would I wink at you at dinner last night?" Draco's eyes were wide with mock hurt. He blinked twice and put on an innocent face._

"_You winked at me? I was under the impression that it was your eye twitching. Honestly Malfoy, I do believe you are under too much fatigue because of the Quidditch training."_ ...

R&R! I'm holding the next chapter hostage! Nah, just kidding. I love posting up new chapters too much to deny you them.

Love it? Hate it? Leave a review thanks!

- Y


	3. The Morning After

AN: Welcome back to the story!

Thank you all for reviewing and adding me to your faves list! =]

RECAP: Hermion recieves help from Pansy to become popular. Pansy, Aira, Cadria and Chantelle give her a makeover which astounds everyone. That's the gist of things. Hopefully you remember which story this one was now. =)

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters. Only the plot is mine.**

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter 3- The morning after_

The events of yesterday felt like a dream that was too good, too perfect to be true. But it was. When Hermione woke up the next morning she immediately saw the black dress she had worn the night before tossed carelessly over the back of a chair. In her haste to go to sleep last night, she had hurriedly stripped off her clothes, thrown on some old t-shirt from her dad's university days, speedily brushed her teeth and leapt straight into the four poster bed. Being the Head Girl came with special privileges, like The Most Luxurious Bed Ever for one, _and sitting wherever you like, _her head spoke as the finer details of last night sprang into her head.

That's right, Draco Malfoy had hinted at _things_ to her. The initial shock had gone with the passing of time, but was replaced by (Hermione was appalled to admit) eyebrow raising interest. Not a minute too soon she heard a loud bang coming from the common room that she shared with _Malfoy_.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was filled with a mixture of feelings as he woke up that morning. Firstly, the hangover he had was unbearable and he couldn't stand the thought of yet another tedious day of classes. He briefly contemplated on whether to declare himself sick. Last night he had gone to the Slytherin Common room with Blaise and got very, very drunk though it was a school night and as a rule Draco hardly ever drank on school nights. He was the second best student in the year and keeping on top of his schoolwork, however doubtful it may sound, was always one of his top priorities. But then, last night was an exception, it was―for lack of a better word―_interesting_. Draco always loved exceptions because they were so rare to come by and a cause to be celebrated, and so he had just drank the slightest bit too much. Thirteen bottles of firewhiskey was the cause of the hangover.

Draco next thought about why he had just the tiniest bit too much, and was reminded about Hermione Granger, or rather, the lack of repulse he had felt about her last night. He then recalled his _own_ actions concerning last night, and was truly disgusted! He surely must have been drunk. Draco was pretty sure that before dinner he must have already been drinking. His actions were so illogical and so NOT HIM. Draco arrived at the conclusion that he must have already been drunk before dinner as an explanation for his behaviour.

The third feeling Draco felt was lust. The feelings of lust overcame him again as he remembered exactly what Granger had been wearing, the way she had looked last night to invoke such dreadful behaviour from him. The strapless dress that clung to her curves, the beautiful hair that had been so sexily styled, and _damn_ those heels. Those heels made him want to gobble her up whole. Figuratively speaking of course, Draco Malfoy, Prince _and_ Sex God of Slytherin, was no cannibal. If the said Draco Malfoy did perchance to like the taste of human flesh (which he certainly _did not_) one seventy-ninth of the female population (the one seventy-ninth he had slept with, Draco was certainly picky) would be missing. In most crime shows that Draco watched (he would never confess to liking the muggle show 'Medium', let alone actually _watch_ a muggle invention) the murderers always seemed to sleep with the prostitutes before they killed them. Draco found this highly logical. Hell, necrophilia was _sick_. Whilst Draco had been thinking all this he had gotten out of bed despite the headache (and being shirtless) and was in the middle of grabbing a bowl for breakfast. With a loud bang and clatter the sound disturbed him from his thoughts.

Picking up the bowl, he looked up to see Hermione Granger, wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt, leaning against the doorframe with a scowl. The words 'Oxford University' on the gray tee were deliciously stretched over her breasts. Draco rubbed his eyes to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Christmas had come early! Draco wondered why the Gryffindor was standing here in _his_ 'kitchen' (Draco had blackmailed the house elves into delivering breakfast to his dorm each day because he hated socialising with people in the morning) before he realised that Granger, being the Head Girl, shared the common room with him, the Head Boy. A wave of stupidity hit him. Then realisation that he was _so_ not supposed to have these thoughts about her. But he couldn't help it. Opening his mouth to call her a 'mudblood', Draco found that he couldn't say the word. Not to her. Not to the brunette that he had started crushing on since last night. _Liar_, his inner voice rang out in his head, _you've liked her a lot longer than that_. Shut up, Draco told the voice. Mornings and Hermione Granger in a large t-shirt had overexcited his senses and was making him delirious. Even in the wizarding world hearing voices was definitely not a good sign.

* * *

Hermione Granger frowned upon the blonde bundle of hair. His eyes flashed when he saw her, she could have sworn it. Next, his mouth opened and without saying anything closed again, like an unsightly gobbling goldfish. Hermione didn't like goldfish. They had a memory span of three seconds and she found them to be rather stupid and dull. So Hermione focused on this dislike when she spoke to Malfoy, ignoring the fact that he was topless and in his boxers.

"Malfoy."

"Granger."

Draco always wondered why their conversations started like this, stating the other's name as if it weren't obvious. Couldn't they both be a little more original?

"I see that what you are wearing is just a tad less sexy than yesterday." Draco couldn't resist the urge to 'charm' her. He even put on the special 'superstar' look he had perfected only two nights ago.

Hermione blushed. She knew that Malfoy shouldn't be having this effect on her, but she couldn't help it, no more than he could help his infatuation with her. That's what she thought it was. Some kind of infatuation as an aftermath from the shock that Malfoy had suffered, when she had unpeeled the imaginative 'nerd' label he and the rest of the student population had stuck on her.

Draco waited but instead of replying to his statement, Hermione looked left and right and even under the toaster.

"What?" Draco hated being ignored.

"I'm looking for the cameras." Hermione stated this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world which annoyed Draco.

"And may I ask why? Do you think we're being watched or something?"

"No, but obviously you do. You look like some whorish underwear model, especially with that sleazy expression on your face."

"So you think I'm hot."

"No, since when does _whore_ translate into _hot_? But I must congratulate you on the huge effort though, try hard."

"With a kiss? Gladly accepted."

Draco was only slightly hurt that she did not find him unappealing. Only slightly. _Stupid damn expression_, he was sure that all girls would find it irresistible. Draco made a mental note to himself to try the look out on others.

"In your drea―"

The thing that had stopped the conversation was the smell of burning. Or more precisely, the muggle appliance that Hermione was now holding up. It was on fire.

"Malfoy! What did you put into my toaster?!?" Hermione's face darkened with anger as she pulled out the power and thrust it into Draco's face, merely inches away from burning off his much prized hair.

"You mean you're not supposed to put cheese in it?" Draco put on an air of innocence and pointed to the cheese melted inside the toaster, the cause of the fire. For a second Hermione almost believed that it was unintentional.

"Why were you even touching it in the first place??"

"Curiosity. It's not like it had 'Do not touch, property of Hermione Granger on it' did it? Stop making such a fuss; I should be blaming your muggle invention for killing my breakfast. That thing is a murderer but luckily for you, I'm in a good mood so I won't sue." Draco gave to Hermione his best self-satisfied smirk.

Hermione, having once extinguished the flames, turned the toaster around in her arms. Words that read 'This belongs to Hermione Granger, do not even think about touching it Malfoy' were engraved on the side. Her eyes looked up at his and they were impatient with anger and annoyance, waiting for him to say something.

"You know…I'm actually not that hungry anymore." With this, Draco left the common room as fast as he could, forgetting all about his situation of almost-nakedness. He wasn't quite feeling like being jinxed today on top of his hangover.

* * *

Getting to the Slytherin common rooms, and ultimately Blaise Zabini's dorm was a risky mission. Draco was targeted by girls left right and centre. Groups of girls stood around giggling and gawking at his perfectly toned, smooth yet rock hard abs. Draco didn't mind this one bit, though the giggling was a bit maddening. He even tried out the 'superstar' look on them. It came as no surprise that one girl fainted. So it did work on all girls. _All girls minus the one and only Hermione Granger._ There were by this time fan girls that were stalking him and trying to touch him. That pissed him off, so, he wasn't holding back when he released his anger at them.

"My my Draco, not trying to outdo my rebellious behavior again are you?" Blaise remarked as he saw Draco surrounded by the groups of girls, almost naked.

"Get me some fucking school robes Zabini and we'll leave the talk till later."

The friendship between Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini was a little messed up, but they made quite the duo nonetheless. They grew up in the same neighborhood, were in the same social circles and their families were friends. The two were also the only Hogwarts students to make it into the Witch Weekly's top ten most eligible bachelors, along with the late Cedric Diggory. They even fucked the same women, give or take a handful. Unlike Draco, Blaise was less concerned with the purity of blood and this brought a good many half-bloods and sometimes even muggle borns to his bedroom. It was no surprise that Blaise Zabini had the phone numbers of several muggle women (they all worked in either strip clubs or fast food restaurants) on speed dial. Blaise bought a phone just for this reason. Blaise loved his phone. Press a few buttons and sex was already on the way, much more convenient, not to mention seductive, than owling or flooing. Blaise scoffed at the thought of sending something like: 'Fuck me now Lizzie?' via an owl.

Draco wondered what his friend was thinking as he watched Blaise drift off into Happyland. Sex, no doubt. Impatiently, he snapped his fingers in front of the other boy's face and pointed at himself, reminding Blaise that he was still unclothed.

"Sorry Draco." Blaise smiled sheepishly and apologetically at the pissed off blonde.

Together, they walked off in the direction of Blaise's dorm, preparing to get some robes for Draco.

* * *

Hermione was running late. As she watched Malfoy quickly vacate the room she realized the time. Pulling on her uniform she grabbed a banana and rushed off for her first class, Transfiguration. Panting by the time she got to the classroom, she saw that Harry and Ron were already sitting in their usual seats. They both turned around and patted the empty spot beside them. Happily, Hermione skipped off towards the chair before she was stopped by a cough.

"Hermione, why don't you sit with us?" It was Pansy and Aira, sitting by the windows. Surrounding them were half a dozen Slytherins.

"Umm…but…Harry and Ron saved me a seat Pansy, Aira. I think I might sit with them for today."

Pansy and Aira's expression were ones of shock. Clearly, they weren't used being turned down for any reason.

"Sit, before you try my patience." Pansy uttered out and Aira quickly pulled Hermione down to the bench to sit beside her. Apparently even Aira, the perfect beauty and second in power to Pansy, feared their fearsome leader and the ex-girlfriend of Draco Malfoy.

Hermione shot Ron and Harry an apologetic look in reply to their expressions of confusion. Sighing, she settled into her studies whilst wondering when was the next time she would sit with her two best friends again.

* * *

It wasn't until after class that Hermione had to encounter Malfoy again. She had gotten over her anger because to be truthful, she had sort of expected Malfoy to do this sort of thing. Pansy and Aira had gotten her to promise to meet them after she grabbed a bite to eat from the kitchen, because she was feeling hungry. The last meal she had was dinner.

Draco Malfoy was apparently the same. He hadn't had anything all day due to the toast incident. He was starving and knew he couldn't make it till lunch so he escaped to the kitchen.

Heading into the kitchen, he saw the familiar brown hair. It was still up in its bun from last night and Granger hadn't taken it out today. Granger's back was to him and he could see her stuffing her mouth with butter on toast. His stomach growled.

A noise made Hermione realize that there was a sudden intruder. Quickly, she spun around to come face to face with the Head Boy.

"You!" Her mouth was too full to utter anything else apart from the single syllable.

"Yes me. You shouldn't stuff your face like that Granger, it'll put off me asking you out on a date."

Hermione nearly choked on her bread.

"Careful there Granger, take it slowly. I know that you are going to be excited about a date with the single most sexiest, popular and perfect guy at Hogwarts, most probably the world. Don't kill yourself with that bread before our date, okay?" Draco had no idea why he was suggesting a date to the Gryffindor, but before the words had been processed in his brain they had just come streaming out, before he could stop it. She was obviously a bad influence on him.

"Drop the act Malfoy." If Malfoy didn't leave, Hermione swore that she would crack. Too much Malfoy was always a bad thing.

"I'm serious about dating you, Granger. Why else would I wink at you at dinner last night?" Draco's eyes were wide with mock hurt. He blinked and put on an innocent face.

"You winked at me? I was under the impression that it was your eye twitching. Honestly Malfoy, I do believe you are under too much fatigue because of the Quidditch training." Hermione thought that she was getting good at this game. If he was playing around with her head then she would oblige.

"Why Granger, I didn't know you cared."

"I do. Maybe if you quit Quidditch then Gryffindor would have an easier win this year."

"Is that a compliment? I'll take it as a compliment."

"Take it whatever way you want Malfoy. Makes no difference to me."

Draco's stomach chose this moment to growl again. They both looked at it. Embarrassed by his body (apart from the hunger noises the rest of him _was_ rather perfect) there was a sudden silence. Hermione's bright brown eyes captured Draco's blue-gray ones and for a moment there was amusement in them. She bit back a smile. Draco was suddenly serious. The mucking around face was gone and replaced by a seriousness that scared Hermione. His eyes were on hers again. Slowly, Draco leaned forward, his face inching towards hers. Hermione stood frozen with shock. She didn't know what to do. The loud beating in her heart was no joke. What should be disgust at _what he was about to do _was instead nervousness. Deep down somewhere in her heart, she anticipated what it would feel like, his soft lips on hers.

The face of Draco Malfoy paused briefly a centimetre before her face. Hermione fluttered her eyes closed, waiting for the moment of contact. But it never came. When Hermione opened her eyes, she felt like a tool.

Malfoy grinned at her, tauting her with his smirk. In his mouth, held between his teeth was the piece of toast she had been holding in her hand. The bread was like a victory medal. She had fallen for his trap. Hermione inwardly cursed herself for being so stupid, for falling for such an overused and cliché trick. Above all else, she cursed herself for allowing, for the briefest moment, to anticipate the kiss of Draco Malfoy.

_Once again, please R&R! Also, I want to do other pairings as well so who would you (readers!) like to see together? I was going to add in some other pairing but thought you guys might not like it, so tell me who you want to see more of!_

- Y


	4. In Which Everyone is Confused

_AN: Everyone I am so sorry for not updating sooner! I had writer's block for awhile and was really troubled by parings and which characters to show. (I pretty much just think of the plot as I write it, really bad I know but nothing's coming to me). __It would be really appreciated if you can give me any personal preferences or ideas! _

_Apart from having no inspiration, my best friend is going back to Korea next month as well as a close friend of mine, who's leaving next Tuesday... I was really upset and crying so I didn't feel like writing so I'm very sorry!_

_Anyway, here's the newest chapter and I hope you enjoy it! _

_Oh yes! Thank you to all the reviewers for the last chapter!_

_**MrsBlaCKwIfeY, krissie92, NotSoSlightlyCrazy, soccercrazyfreak, brianneD, cataloo456**_

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I own NADA

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter 4: In Which Everyone is Confused :S_

Harry and Ron were perplexed by Hermione Granger, who currently seemed to be avoiding them a LOT. Since the first night when she made her big appearance she had been sitting with Pansy and her group. Even when they had saved a seat for her in class she had sent them an apologetic look and sat with Pansy. PANSY PANSY PANSY PANSY… neither of the two boys had a particular dislike for her before, but Pansy Parkinson had taken their best friend away from them and all they knew was that they wanted her back. And it was all stupid Parkinson's fault.

"Ron"

"Yeah?"

"I miss Hermione." Harry finally decided to risk talking about the taboo subject. When Ron did not reply he started to get nervous. After a minute of awkward silence, at long last Ron decided to reply to the statement.

"Me too." The two sat in awkward silence once more, until Ginny came into the room.

The youngest Weasley practically pranced into the room and not even Ron's evident bad mood could affect her. She was all smiles and was all bright eyes, grinning at Harry. He took the hint.

"Why are you so happy?"

Ginny settled herself onto the nearby couch in the common room, cross-legged and made herself quite comfortable before she answered.

"I just witnessed a secret love affair take place between Hermione and Malfoy." She sang out in a sing song voice, careful not to look at her older brother.

Harry nodded vaguely, before the situation cleared in his mind. Apparently, Ron was also quick to react for once.

"What?!?" The two boys roared out at the same time.

Ginny was smug now that she knew she had their full and undivided attention.

"Hermione and Malfoy were together in the kitchen. YOU KNOW…"

"Are you sure? I mean, Hermione was probably having an argument with him or something. You didn't see them…err…kissing did you?" Harry looked over at Ron, who was all red in the face and quite angry. It wasn't a secret that although he was dating Lavender Brown, he had always liked Hermione a bit more than a friend. Ron that is. Harry thought of Hermione as a sister, and he already had someone that he liked (namely the person who was in this room at this very moment, and NO Harry was not gay). So yes, Harry had a wee bit of a crush on Ginny.

"OF COURSE I'm certain. I mean, she had her eyes closed and he was leaning towards her. What else could they have been up to?" Ginny knew of Ron's little crush on Hermione, but she couldn't resist baiting him. She was also the slightest bit angry at her brother for dating Lavender when Hermione knew that he knew that Hermione liked him. If that made sense at all. To Ginny it was quite simple, be with the person you like. They liked each other but being the coward that he was, Ron had never made any move with Hermione, and she thought that he deserved every bit of the jealousy he was feeling.

For certain, Ginny Weasley was also quite happy for Hermione. She would have never thought her friend possible of dating _the _Draco Malfoy, Sex God and Prince of Slytherin, but nevertheless she was quite proud of her friend's achievements.

Shock was all over Ronald Weasley's face. Of course, anybody would be, but he had never thought that the girl who had been walking in front of his very eyes would be stolen by his worst enemy. He really had been too negligent of her and was certain that she would wait for him until the end. No, this couldn't have been true. He would go ask Hermione herself. _But what if it is_, his inner thoughts questioned. He'll be damned if this was true, there was no way he would be handing over Hermione to Malfoy!

Ron angrily got up from the couch and without a word huffed out of the room. He left behind a very concerned Harry and a bright-eyed, eager for action Ginny.

* * *

Hermione had just left Muggle Studies when she saw a familiar head of red. (**A/N: Hermione takes extra classes whilst the other three had frees just then**) She grinned at Ron, but then was worried when he came closer and she noticed the expression of anger on his face.

"Ron? Is something wrong? I haven't seen you fo…"

"Is it true?" Ron cut her off.

Hermione did not know what Ron was talking about. The only thing she had kept a secret from him was her deal with Pansy, but she didn't think he would overreact _this _much.

Ginny spoke up when she saw the look of confusion on Hermione's face. With a grin, she hinted, "In the kitchen earlier today…"

Hermione's face grew pale. She had seen that?

Ginny smiled at her evilly. Ron stayed quiet and looked at the tiles on the floor.

"Honestly, I thought you would tell me that you and Malfoy got together. How long have you been dating for? You two looked pretty cosy there so it obviously hasn't been too recent."

If possible, Ron's face, though still facing down at the floor tiles, flushed even redder. No one knew though whether it was out of anger or embarrassment at the proposed scene suggested by Ginny.

"Wait― Malfoy and I aren't going out… We didn't kiss Ginny! We didn't even do anything!" Hermione tried desperately to convince the two of her innocence against the accusation. Dating Draco Malfoy? What a preposterous idea! _Then why did you anticipate the kiss__?_

"Why were your eyes closed?" Ginny fiercely questioned. She could not believe that Hermione would deny it. At that moment, Hermione clasped a hand over the younger girl's mouth.

"Please Ginny, just believe me okay? Nothing happened between us." She shot a look at Ginny to tell her, 'we'll talk about this later.'

"Fine, I believe you." Ginny's tone and expression suggested something different, but Ron was too preoccupied in his own thoughts to notice his sister's strange behavior.

At that moment, he had been thinking about how relieved he was that Hermione was not dating Malfoy. Here was his chance. Realizing that Hermione was about to leave, Ron blurted out:

"Hermione! Meet me in the Astrology tower tonight after dinner? I need to talk to you."

Hermione flashed a smile back at the duo and continued on her way. On the surface she seemed calm, but underneath waves of confusion and thoughts were swirling about in her head, making her feel slightly sick and nauseous.

* * *

Throughout the day, Hermione busied herself in her work. In one afternoon, she had completed three essays, all 6 inches long for the subjects: Potions, Ancient Runes and Charms in that order. She had also finished the Arithmancy worksheet they had been given just that day. Hermione even read ahead in History of Magic and wrote some practice paragraphs for essays.

Normally, she would be so into her homework that she often forgot about the time. She wished for that now. However, most of her classes had just had tests and so there wasn't really much homework to keep her occupied. For once in her life Hermione regretted finishing all her work too early, because now she had absolutely nothing to do. She wished to busy herself with homework so that maybe, _just maybe_, she would end up forgetting about the appointment with Ron later on. She felt guilty at this but she really didn't want to '_talk'_ with him.

Strangely, Malfoy had not said anything else all day to her, even though most of their classes were together. She wondered whether this was a good or bad sign. Pansy and Aira were both in her classes too, and each lesson they had rather aggressively forced her to sit with them, not letting them near Harry or Ron (for which she was thankful).

Though Pansy and Aira had only being friends with her for two weeks, they had known immediately when something was not quite right about Hermione.

"What's wrong Mione?" Aira asked the brunette with a worried expression.

Hermione couldn't really tell Pansy and Aira that she was dreading a meeting with Ron, so she just laughed it off.

During dinner Hermione sat with the Slytherins as she had for the past two weeks now and sneaked looks at the Gryffindor table. She only had a mere bite here and there to eat but nobody seemed to notice except for Blaise Zabini. Hermione's permanent spot was next to Blaise now, and Crabbe and Goyle were made to move down one spot.

"Why aren't you eating?" Blaise raised his left eyebrow and looked at her questioningly, "You're not on a diet are you?"

"Nah, I don't feel hungry. I had a really big lunch." Hermione lied.

Blaise went back to shoving food at top speed down his throat (all the while still maintaining perfect etiquette of course, as all high society Slytherins were brought up to do). Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and continued to prod her half-eaten potato on her plate.

* * *

It was now after dinner and Hermione slowly trudged up the stairs to the Astrology tower. Ron was already there waiting for her.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Ron." Hermione tried to act as normal as possible.

"Me and Lavender broke up." Ron said quickly, at the same time.

"Lavender and I…" Hermione softly corrected him, and then said a little bit louder, "I'm sorry to hear that." Warning bells were ringing loudly in her head, she knew where this conversation was heading.

"You don't need to be. I broke up with her. Our relationship was going downhill. She wasn't the girl for me." Ron looked at her with pleading eyes. He then took a deep breath.

"Hermione…You are the girl I like. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Hermione hesitated not knowing what to say. Ron mistook her reaction as shock, and quickly assured her:

"Err… I mean, do you want to go out with me? To just um… and if we both have mutual feelings then…we could be… girlfriend and boyfriend?"

Once upon a time, this would have made Hermione over the moon and be ecstatically happy, but now she could only think of how much she _did not want him_. She didn't want to hear his confession. She didn't want to go on a date with him. She didn't want to become the girlfriend of Ronald Weasley. And most importantly, she, Hermione Granger, did not like him. This realization shocked her. For as long as she could remember, Hermione had always stood in the shadows watching Ron as he had several girlfriends, wondering when he would finally notice that she was right before his eyes. Maybe even a month ago she would have even given an arm and leg to hear him say this to her, but now… _now_ she was over him.

"Ron, I'm sorry. I don't have the same feelings for you as you do for me." Hermione watched as Ron's face fell. She felt so guilty, but now that he had realized his feelings it was too late for _'them'_.

"Is there someone else?" Ron angrily grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking her slightly. His voice was filled with sorrow.

Again Hermione felt a pang.

"I don't know. But I'm really sorry; I just don't have feelings for you anymore."

Hermione didn't know why she answered 'I don't know'. She didn't like anybody but she supposed it provided her with a reason to turn him down. Perhaps it helped to soften the blow on his self-esteem. Deep down somewhere the inner Hermione knew that this wasn't true; there _was_ someone that she could _possibly_ like. Feelings were so damn confusing.

Without wanting to continue the conversation further or turn it into a screaming match, Hermione turned towards the door and ran.

* * *

She stood in front of the mirror, her hair down and looked at her reflection. The pale face in the moonlit reflection betrayed her thoughts. She sighed, she was so easy to read. Hermione wondered what had caused her to turn down Ron. Rather, more accurately, why she no longer had feelings for him. _Draco Malfoy_, Hermione hated her inner voice. As much as she wanted to ignore the name, he soon entered her thoughts.

Hermione checked the time by looking at the reflection. The clock that hung on the wall (in the reflection) showed a short hand just a little past 12, and the long hand where the 4 was. She flipped the image in her head. It was 11:40pm. She knew that Malfoy was asleep by now, because the next day he had a Quidditch match against Ravenclaw and he always made sure he was properly rested before the game. This was one of those good days where Hermione didn't have to worry about him sneaking a girl into his room and making lots of noises to keep her awake. She didn't even want to _think_ about what he was doing during those times.

Silently, she tiptoed into their common room and soundlessly opened the adjoining door to where Draco Malfoy slept.

He lay on a massive four poster bed, and Hermione was surprised to find that the décor was not green, as she had always thought it would be. Instead, a deep rich brown enveloped the sleeping figure and Hermione had a strange want of going under the covers and curling up next to him. _The brown just looks too inviting_, Hermione chose to blame that thought on Malfoy's choice of manchester.

Hesitantly, Hermione reached the edge of the bed. With slow fingers, she softly brushed the blonde hair away from his eyes. They seemed at peace and did not seem threatening at all when they were closed. Slowly, Hermione bent down.

_I'm just testing my reaction. No one will ever find out about this…I just need to know if…_Hermione froze at this thought,_ if I like him or not_.

Hermione lowered her face further. She supported her weight with her arms on either side of Malfoy, and a knee propped onto the very edge of the bed. She prayed that the position would hold. She did not fancy Malfoy waking up because she had just collapsed on top of him in his sleep. As her face inched closer to his, Hermione could feel her heartbeat get faster and faster. _Badump…badump…dadump…_there was that familiar feeling of a first crush. Hermione knew her answer; she didn't need to continue this. But the Gryffindor couldn't help herself as she closed her eyes and pressed her own lips to his.

The kiss was not more than a slight touch, but apparently, Malfoy was a light sleeper. Hermione looked in horror as the pair of eyes that were closed before she had kissed him was now open. The silver orbs were the last thing she saw before she fell on top of him and then tore herself off the bed. For the second time that night she bolted back into the comfort of her room, right across from his.

Hermione Granger was dead. She had no idea how to face him tomorrow. Thinking about Avada Kedavras and other jinxes he might attempt to use, she fell into a dreamless sleep.

_So there you have it. PLEASE offer me some suggestions and ideas for either the plot or pairings!! I will love you forever :D _

_Love it? Hate it? Want to flame it? Leave a review! Thanks~_


	5. A Game of Truth and Dare

_AN: Sorry that this story took awhile! I've got my entire plot sorted out now so THANK GOD!_

_Thanks to last chapter's reviewers! (especially to those who have reviewed consistently... you have my most sincere thanks!)_

_**cataloo456, bunny08, krissie92, LadySelena.16, MrsBlaCKwIfeY, Deidaras Masterpiece, jayd-n33, soccercrazyfreak, harrypotterlover123**_

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**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Harry Potter or any of its characters, I merely own the first four HP movies and the 5th I bought today at Sanity**

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_**LAST CHAPTER:** _

_The kiss was not more than a slight touch, but apparently, Malfoy was a light sleeper. Hermione looked in horror as the pair of eyes that were closed before she had kissed him was now open. The silver orbs were the last thing she saw before she fell on top of him and then tore herself off the bed. For the second time that night she bolted back into the comfort of her room, right across from his._

_Hermione Granger was dead. She had no idea how to face him tomorrow. Thinking about Avada Kedavras and other jinxes he might attempt to use, she fell into a dreamless sleep._

_

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter Five: A Game of Truth and Dare_

The next morning Draco woke up thinking about a very interesting not to mention wonderful dream. He had dreamt that Granger had kissed him! Draco could still remember the feeling of the soft peck she had placed upon his lips. The memory of the dream was so clear in his mind from which it would not escape. Draco hummed a tune as he had a quick shower and pulled on the crisp white school shirt. He stepped out of his room and caught sight of Granger just as she was about to leave for breakfast in the Great Hall.

Draco was in such a good mood that he even called out a friendly greeting to her as she left.

"Morning" His voice remained pleasant but revealed none of the intensity that he was feeling on the inside.

Hermione turned around and her cheeks flushed bright pink. Draco nearly swooned. Rosy cheeks suited her _quite_ well. Hermione ran out of the door as he was thinking this without so much as a second glance. Draco wondered why she was acting this way…He did have pants on didn't he? Draco hurriedly looked down to check. Phew, he was. Her strange behaviour puzzled him greatly. Draco was pretty sure that there was nothing wrong with him to cause such behaviour from her. Unless… Draco's eyes widened in shock.

"Fuck!" The events of last night that had caused him to feel very, very happy were indeed very, very real.

* * *

Draco got to class and sat in the empty spot next to Blaise.

"Hey! How do you know that I wasn't saving that spot for the hot blonde Ravenclaw chick?" Blaise jerked his thumb in the direction of the said blonde who was just walking in through the door. He was evidently in a good mood as he joked with Draco.

"Shut it, Zabini. I need to think." Draco's previous good mood was replaced by confusion from the new development between Granger and himself and annoyance at his friend for interrupting his thoughts.

Blaise looked at him with an expression of confusion.

"Yes, Blaise, I do think much to your dismay." Draco said sarcastically, "I'm the smartest guy in the year." He couldn't help but add this, because as everybody already undoubtedly knew, The Slytherin Prince is rather arrogant and conceited.

Blaise didn't hear the last part of what Draco had said because by now his attention was already engaged by a female from the 6th year who had just walked past their classroom door.

Draco rolled his eyes at his friend. Honestly, Blaise was such a flirt. Leaving Blaise to ogle the girl (Draco couldn't see who she was— another blonde no doubt) he dwelled once more in his thoughts.

Draco thought long and hard. Granger had kissed him. That must mean that… she liked him? Draco did not bother wondering why she had kissed him under such circumstances, in his room when he was asleep. He was used to having girls do crazy things to catch his attention and there had been _way_ crazier incidents.

Like the fourth year in the towel last year. Damn, _she_ had caught his attention alright. She had dressed herself in a miniscule towel that barely covered her boobs AND her butt at the same time and casually waited for Draco outside the Slytherin common room. Malfoy men are always the perfect gentlemen (though some people might say otherwise) and to prove it, he had politely declined her. Draco's standards are high and girls who everyone got a piece of are neither worth his time nor his interest. There had been another time when he had found Astoria Greengrass waiting for him sprawled out on his bed one afternoon. The girl had been wearing a Las Vegas showgirl costume with glittery _nipple stickers_.

_What is with girls and disgustingly revealing attire?_ Draco cringed as more ahem— disturbing– images filled his mind. Gentlemen did not sleep with women who dressed like _that_ and Draco prided himself in upholding the worthy Malfoy name.

So yes, back to the topic of Hermione Granger. Did he like her? Well, he had admitted before to himself that he had a small crush on her, so that meant yes, he did like her. Draco doubted that these feelings were anything serious; it was more of an infatuation really. Then came the problem: What should he do? Should he stop their flirting? No, that wasn't an option because he had never intended to flirt with her anyway; it was a weird unexplained reflex action to her. Should he make a move? No, he figured that it wasn't his problem. SHE was the one with the problem and if she wanted to act on her newfound feelings, she would do it and he would just roll with the punches.

Draco was so preoccupied with his thoughts that by the time he returned to reality, ready to listen to what the old coop (Professor Binns) had to say about History of Magic, class was over. It didn't help that this was his worst subject, the only class he might have been failing, and that he didn't hear a minute of it. Neither had anyone else by the look of things.

Draco looked around the class, trying to find a suitable candidate to fill him on that lesson in or lend him their notes. Nobody. Draco sighed. His father would no doubt write a letter soon demanding an explanation to why his son was second _once again_, and beaten by a 'Mudblood' no less. _Oh the shame_, he thought sarcastically in his head.

"Professor? I was wondering if there are some extra reading materials that you would recommend. I think I might need to gain a better understanding of the Troll Rebellion…"

Draco smirked to himself. He had a _plan_.

"Professor? I think I might need some extra help." Draco smirked at Hermione before continuing, "Can you organise a tutor for me?"

Professor Binns was amazed and pleasantly astounded. A student of his (a student apart from Granger) was showing a keen interest to his class!

"Yes of course Mr Malfoy. Miss Granger," much to the horror of Hermione he turned to her, "could you assist Mr Malfoy in his studies? I know that you would do splendidly as a tutor for him." Professor Binns was all smiles and Hermione couldn't get out of this situation. She did the only thing she possibly could.

"Yes Professor."

She glared at Draco and he smiled back in return. This was going to be a fun time. Draco grabbed his books and carried them easily under one arm, opening the door with his free hand.

"See you later then Granger." He strode out the door, whistling as he prepared to head off to his next class.

* * *

Hermione fumed. It didn't help that the next class was potions, with her least favourite teacher. She had realised last night that yes, Draco did make her heart beat faster and had an affect over her, and yes, that probably meant that she had a _tiny_ crush on him. She could not deny her feelings any longer. But this did not mean that she no longer hated him. It was times like these when he reminded her of why she hated him so much. That cocky attitude and the way he manipulated people to do his bidding.

As much as Hermione wanted to be angry at him though, she couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit excited and anxious about tutoring Draco Malfoy. No doubt he would try to make it a miserable experience for her (she had no qualms that it wouldn't) but much to her disgust she was eager to spend time with him. Hermione figured that she must be a masochist. No one in their right mind would look forward to spending one afternoon of every week (two if she was lucky) with their enemy, especially when they knew it would entail being infuriated and insulted. But Hermione did. Needless to say, she was not in her right mind; she hadn't been since the moment she felt a thing for Malfoy.

Draco walked into the Potions classroom and saw that everyone was already there. Almost everyone that is. Behind him was Potter and Weasley, both red in the face and huffing, looking quite out of breath.

"Ten points from Gryffindor. Potter and Weasley you are late."

Weasley shot Draco a glare and he returned it with his usual famous smirk that he had specially reserved for this occasion, the smirk that said 'We-both-know-that-it's-not-fair-but-too-bad-for-you'.

The idiot that he was, he chose to complain to Snape.

"But Professor! Malfoy was…"

"Be quiet Mr Weasley!" Snape shut him up, then proceeded, "Mr Malfoy arrived just on time. Mr Potter was two seconds late and you were a second behind him."

The Weasel muttered something under his breath that only the Gryffindors and unfortunately for him, Snape, could catch.

"Weasley, I would advise you to not argue with a teacher. Late is late, no matter how insignificantly small the time to you may seem is. If you have the energy to conflict against my judgement then I suggest that you put that energy to better use next time, for example like running faster." It was times like these when Draco prided himself on having Snape as a godfather. He was cold and cruel, knowing exactly how to put people in their place.

"Another five points from Gryffindor." Something that Snape also had was the ability to be merciless, a trait that he did not hesitate to act on in the instance of non-Slytherins who failed to meet his high standards. Groans were heard from the Gryffindor table and Draco watched as the two sat down in their desks.

"Silence or I will deduct further points from all of you." Quickly, with this threat the whole class was silent as they awaited Snape's further orders.

"Turn to page 244 and tell me…"

* * *

Hermione sat cross-legged on the floor of Pansy's room. With her sat Aira, the twins, the owner of the bedroom and surprisingly—Ginny. The youngest Weasley had finally managed to steal her from the new friends for a mere few minutes before the group had found her again. Cadria had excitedly announced to her that they were about to start a game of truth of dare. Refusing to go with them, Hermione had put her foot down for once and demanded that they let her spend an afternoon with Ginny.

The girls all seemed to move an inch of a fraction backwards as Pansy walked over to Ginny, and glanced at her from head to toe, as if evaluating her.

All it took was one statement from the leader, "take her too" for Cadria and Chantelle to each latch onto one unwilling victim and pull them towards the Slytherin dungeons. Ginny had flashed her a _look_ as they were both dragged unrelentingly by the twins.

So now here they all were, sitting in a circle playing a game of truth and dare. Cadria giggled in a rather audible and vociferous manner. Chantelle shyly giggled behind a hand that covered her mouth. Aira laughed and it reminded Hermione of the sound of a twinkling bell, loud and distinct albeit pleasing to the ear. Ginny was on the ground, trying hard not control her boisterous laughter. Even Hermione was having a hard time keeping a straight face because the sight before her was way too ridiculous!

Pansy was standing on one foot with the other raised as high as she could above her head. Her arms were flung behind her and she struggled to keep her balance and her leg up at the same time. Pansy had been dared by Ginny to demonstrate to them the ballet steps she had been taught as a kid and was unsuccessfully trying to remember 'the swan'. Several beeps came from Hermione's timer and Pansy was finally allowed to collapse to the floor. With a wicked grin, Pansy asked them, "Who's next?" All four fingers pointed at Hermione.

"Time for my revenge…" Pansy smiled at her evilly and exaggeratedly rubbed her hands together. In her hands she held up a large grey t-shirt…

Hermione's eyes widened and gulped…

* * *

It was dinner time once again and Draco's stomach was grumbling from hunger. As soon as they got to their seats, he and Blaise launched themselves right into the delicious feast before them. They quickly used their knives and their forks to cut their food into biteable sized pieces and proceeded to shove it (still looking perfectly perfect of course) down their throats.

Pansy sat down next to him and gave him a smile. Despite their breakup, Draco was not oblivious to the fact that the girl still harvested feelings for him. He gave a nod to her, and to the other girls (Aira and the twins) who had joined them. Pansy frowned.

"Can't talk I'm eating." He explained and reached out for the goblet in front of him, helping himself to a large mouthful of pumpkin juice.

A brightly coloured image flashed past Draco's vision and stood to rest by the spot next to Blaise. Draco looked up. It was Hermione… wearing a grey t-shirt that flashed the words: I'VE LOST MY TEDDY BEAR, WILL YOU SLEEP WITH ME 2NITE?

Draco choked on his juice and spurted it all over Blaise. Blaise was mock angry at Draco and turned towards Hermione to for an explanation. He raised one eyebrow as he met the very red cheeks and brown eyes of Hermione Granger. He turned back to the food on the table and coughed to suppress his laughter.

Today was not a good day for Hermione as the entire room full of students' and teachers' attention were once again fixed on her. Unlike the first however, they were staring for a very different reason. Ginny gave her a wide grin whilst Harry and Ron's mouths were open with shock.

At the head of the Slytherin table Pansy exchanged high fives with Aira, Cadria and Chantelle.

Today was definitely a bad day.

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_I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE READ THE ANs..._

_When I was planning out my story, I realised how similar the plot of it is to Mean Girls... I won't say anymore because I do not want to ruin anything for you but only wish to say that when I wrote this story Mean Girls was not on my mind and I didn't intend to copy anything! The only intended relation between this fan fic and Mean Girls is the Title (Tina Fey, the writer of Mean Girls, based it on a book regarding teenage behaviour called Queen Bees and Wannabes) and the message that it is trying to send to readers (this will become more obvious later on)_

_IMPORTANT AN: Something that has been depressing me... hardly anybody offers me constructive criticism or does the polls! I have over 1000 hits for this story but on average only 6 people review for each chapter! A question for those who don't review: Is it because it is bad? Or can you simply not be bothered to review? Or do you not like it and don't want to hurt my feelings? I always make an effort to review stories that I have enjoyed, because I know how much reviews are appreciated... Wondering why people don't review... O.O_

**For those who have reviewed and continue to review each chapter (and make my day!) I would like to thank you all so very much!**


	6. Tutoring Draco Malfoy

_AN: Hello everyone! Welcome back to the story! I'm pretty happy with myself that this chapter is up so fast. Really wasn't expecting to even start it until next week, but here I am once again and here is the story! :)_

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**Dislaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters**

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_Thanks so much my lovely and awesome reviewers!_

_LadySelena.16, 28mandy28, krissie92, bunny08, jayd-n33, harrypotterlover123, MrsBlaCKwIfeY, soccercrazyfreak, .lemon, jessirose85, CrunchyCamel, georginacastleorpington_

**Last Chapter:**

_A brightly coloured image flashed past Draco's vision and stood to rest by the spot next to Blaise. Draco looked up. It was Hermione… wearing a grey t-shirt that flashed the words: I'VE LOST MY TEDDY BEAR, WILL YOU SLEEP WITH ME 2NITE?..._

_At the head of the Slytherin table Pansy exchanged high fives with Aira, Cadria and Chantelle._

_Today was definitely a bad day._

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter 6: Tutoring Draco Malfoy_

Draco was awake by seven-thirty in the morning. As try as he could, he couldn't get back to sleep. Quickly, he got into the shower and in five minutes was out again. Casting a quick drying spell, Draco put on his school robes and walked out of his room, preparing to go to the Dungeons for a visit.

Walking past the armchair in their common room, Draco was surprised to find the Head Girl slumped in it, curled up in a ball and still wearing that ridiculously suggestive t-shirt. She groaned in her sleep and Draco lightly poked her with one finger. The brunette opened one lazy eye and peered sleepily up at him.

"Good morning." Draco replied cheerfully, wondering why the heck she was asleep out here.

Herm—Granger, he corrected, 'mmmm'-ed and 'ahhh'-ed and rested her head on the arm rest of the chair again.

"You weren't waiting for me out here were you _darling_?" Draco couldn't resist and added a suggestive wink for good measure.

This got Granger up and alert. Her face turned red as she realised she was still wearing the goddamned shirt. With a chuckle, Draco left the common room with a reminder, "Don't be late for breakfast, otherwise people will _really _wonder what you've been up to."

One last look back showed Granger rushing madly into her bedroom. Ahhh— Life was good to this point.

* * *

Draco said the password ("sceleratus") and briskly strode into the Slytherin common room. The last time he had been here was the night that he had gotten very drunk. He came upon the prefect bedroom and hesitated before knocking. Blaise was known for having girls in his bedroom and on many occasions he had unknowingly walked in whilst Blaise was with not one but two busty brunettes.

"Come in."

Draco was relieved that he wouldn't have his morning spoilt today by busty brunettes and confidently turned the doorknob.

Blaise was knotting his green Slytherin tie when Draco walked into the room.

"You're up early." He noted to the dark haired (and by the look of things, freshly showered) male.

"So are you. I had an early night last night, nothing to keep me up."

Draco looked around the bedroom and was mildly surprised by the lack of female underwear that was usually left behind, forgotten, in his room.

"I haven't seen you with any girls around Blaise, in fact it's been almost a week."

"So?" Blaise shrugged as he pulled on a wool jumper.

"Is that a no-I-haven't-been-fucking-anybody 'so' or a I-have-a-terrible-secret-which-I-don't-want-you-to-know kind of 'so'?" Draco questioned him.

Blaise turned to look at him.

"It's a Draco-stop-hinting-about-my-sexuality-I'm-not-gay-so-butt-out-of-my-business kind of 'so'."

"Oh." Draco wondered what was with him, then couldn't help but question Blaise again.

"You don't have a _problem_ do you…? If you don't have the money for...um… surgery then you can always borrow some from me."

"Draco, my dick is not broken if that's what you are implying." Blaise looked bored and the tiniest bit annoyed at Draco's intense questioning. "Come on, let's go down to breakfast."

The topic was hence dropped and never brought up again.

* * *

The two were one of the first people to get down to breakfast. Ever since Draco became Head Boy and thus [mis]used his new position, he hadn't had breakfast in the Hall once. Biting into a delicious cinnamon toast, he wondered whether he would start coming down more often if not just to eat the food. In his mind, he cursed the house elves, believing them to purposely bring him the un-tastiest portions to eat. He was not known to be on very good terms with any house elves.

The girls (and more importantly Granger) were nowhere to be seen and so with a reluctant sigh he left the Great Hall to prepare for his next class.

* * *

It was not during the third period of that day that Draco saw Hermio—Granger. She was sitting next to Pansy two rows in front of him. Draco scribbled a note and folded it into a paper plane.

"_Locomotor plane_" He whispered and watched as the plane came to life in the palm of his hand. In one swift movement he tossed the plane into the air and watched it as it flew towards Granger, controlling its movement with his wand that was hidden underneath his robes. The paper plane hit the back of her head.

"Owww…" Hermione rubbed her head and turned around to see what had hit her. A magic infused paper plane was the answer. She picked it up from where it had fallen on the floor and quickly unfolded it.

_Meet me in our common room at 6 tonight? Bring your textbooks._

_-DM_

Pansy nudged her with her elbow.

"Who's that from?" Hermione didn't want to tell Pansy that it was from Malfoy, and so she lied.

"I think it's from Harry or Ron."

Pansy looked like she believed this and so taking the moment of silence as an opportunity, Hermione quickly shoved the note into her bag. Hermione turned in her chair to find Malfoy and caught his eye. She sent a puzzled look at him, to ask why he wanted to see her. Malfoy mouthed the word: 'Tu-to-ring'. _Oh_, Hermione thought, _should've just told Pansy the truth then_. It was a perfectly reasonable thing and Pansy wouldn't have minded anyway, but what's done was done and Hermione didn't give this a further thought. She turned back to do her work as the professor continued to explain and write things on the word.

However, the Queen Bee of Hogwarts was not as clueless as Hermione believed her to be. Pansy Parkinson knew that Hermione was lying when she told her that the note was from Potter and Weasley. They weren't in this class and for a locomotor charm to work, the sender has to have the receiver in their sight. Pansy had a slim notion of who had sent the note to Hermione, and her guess was proved right when she had witnessed the exchange between Hermione and Draco earlier, from the corner of her eye.

* * *

It was well past six o'clock and Hermione was pacing around the common room waiting for a certain Head Boy to show up. Make that a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Slytherin-housed Head Boy who also happened to be failing History of Magic.

"Damn that blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Slytherin-housed Head Boy who also happens to be failing History of Magic." Hermione cursed darkly. Instead of being here, who knows, she could have been hanging out with Harry and Ron. She was really rather negligent of them lately and felt quite guilty because of it.

"My eyes are grey-blue, close but not quite Granger. And I'm _almost_ failing History of Magic." It was Malfoy and without her noticing, he had somehow slipped into the common room.

"Where were you?? You've made me wait here for you for forty minutes!!" Hermione was beyond furious now.

"Granger, it's FIVE-forty for merlin's sake! Can you not read the time?" Draco was annoyed that she would be so distrustful of him.

Hermione glanced at the clock and yes—it was 5:40pm just as Malfoy had said. She must have read the time wrong…

"Sorry…" Hermione found it very hard to get the word out of her mouth.

Draco grinned as the brunette apologised. Immediately, he was in a much better mood.

"If you'll wait for me, we still have another 20 minutes. I've just had Quidditch training and I would like a shower." Draco didn't even wait for a response as he made his way to his room, already tearing off the Quidditch robes and shirt.

Hermione averted her eyes and went back to sitting in front of the desk. Tonight seemed like a long night and she had already forgotten about the (traitorous) excitement of tutoring Draco Malfoy earlier.

Malfoy came out of his room all fresh and clean five minutes before the minute hand hit sixty.

"Let's start now."

He _accio_-ed a chair and sat beside Hermione. She clumsily picked up the heavy book under the scrutinising look of Malfoy.

"Umm… what do you need help with?" She asked Malfoy uncertainly. "The witch trials? The troll rebellion? The mystery of the ancient practises?"

"Everything." Malfoy smirked at her, "Let's go through everything."

Hermione heftily sighed; this was definitely going to be one long and torturous night. Opening the massive volume, she flipped to chapter one.

"We'll start with the witch trials then." Malfoy nodded without replying.

"Long ago, during the 14th century, muggles still knew of the existence of witches and wizards. They believed them to be connected with dark magic and thought us to be servants of the devil."

Malfoy scoffed at this. Hermione ignored him and continued.

"They were afraid of the magic that we possessed and so started the witch hunt. They hunted down witches and threw those they suspected to be magical folk into the river, to test if they were the real thing. Those who sank to the bottom were innocent and those who floated were thought to possess magical powers that helped them stay afloat. The people who floated were then taken to the stake and burnt to their death."

Malfoy interjected, "Muggles sure are stupid. If they survived then they were burnt to death? And the ones who drowned in the river: Sorry you're dead but congratulations, you're not a witch?"

Hermione angrily flipped the page and continued, "So, the ones who were thought to be witches were burnt at the stake. However, the muggles rarely found true witches and almost all who burnt at the stake were innocent. The true magical folk who were sentenced to be burned could cast a Flame Freezing Charm, which caused the flames merely to tickle."

The rest of their lesson proceeded in a similar matter, with Hermione explaining something and Malfoy making a rude remark or snide comment. During her explanation of the ancient practises, Malfoy was not paying her any attention and looked like he was about to drop off at any minute.

"Pay attention and at least _look _like you're interested." Hermione reprimanded him.

"Sorry but it's just too damn boring… just go on and I promise you that this information is making it into my brain somehow." Malfoy replied, as if that was a suitable excuse.

During the troll rebellion he was getting all the different names of the trolls confused, much to the agitation of Hermione.

"How am I supposed to remember that _Grawkne_ was the leader and _Grawlpi_ the one who did the bashing?!" Malfoy had shouted at her in a frustrated manner.

"NO! You have it all wrong! _Grawlpi_ was the leader and _Grawkne_ was the main troll who lead the attack!" Hermione was equally as loud as he was.

"How can those ugly brutes start a rebellion anyway? Trolls are so dim witted that it's impossible for them even comprehend a language!" Malfoy all but slammed his fist into the table, making it wobble slightly under the force.

"If you'll just let me finish. The rebellion was an instant failure because of what you have so _kindly_ pointed out. It was all over in a matter of days." Hermione said this in a tone that suggested that she thought he was anything but kind.

"Well" said Draco, at a temporary loss for words.

"Well, indeed." Hermione was doing a victory dance in her head at winning the argument.

"Goodnight then." With that, Draco quickly advanced to his room.

Hermione returned to her own room too, smug about winning the first fight. _If only there weren't any more_, she mused as she closed the door behind her.

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**PLEASE READ!!**

_AN: Didn't expect me to post this so quickly? Neither did I. Posting this whilst parents are nagging me for the 30th something time tonight to go to bed. I read the botton bit in an translated version of an interview with Tom Felton today and it made me laugh so much. Full article can be found on mugglenet(dot)com_

_A lot of people have been telling me that they love the part about Hermione's t-shirt in the last chapter. Must say that the message is (sadly) not thought up by me. You know those msn 'dollie' avatars? Well, in year 6 I was obsessive compulsive about msn and had thousands of those avatars saved. One of them said that on it. Think I'll find it now for you guys, and I'll umm.... link it to here? ...*searches* _

_Here is my fave bit from the interview;)_

It's obvious that he likes to play a villain. "I can act like a real jerk. How can I not enjoy it? It's very fun to scare children. The other day I got interviewed in front of a crowd of 12 year olds and they just stared at me without speaking. When there's kids in the studio they all run and hug Dan, but I don't get any of that".  
Being evil has its disadvantages. "I get letters that say 'Stop being evil to Harry or we'll go to Hogwarts and kick your butt. Some fans are so weird. One changed his name legally to Lucius Malfoy and wanted to adopt me".

_Anyway, love it? Hate it? Indifference to it? Please leave a reivew! And also, constructive criticism/ideas/feedback and attention given to my polls will be greatly appreciated! Question for this chapter: What are your feelings about the OCs? Thanks~_

_-Y_

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	7. It's a Date!

_AN: I apologise to everyone who has been reading this story so far and I'm very sorry about the quality of my writing. The plot is giving me a headache, and the characterisation is quite inconsistent and confusing. I thank you all for sticking to this story, I'm very happy about that, and HOPEFULLY my writing will improve :)_

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****Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of J.K Rowling's ideas. Also, I would like to thank the HP encyclopaedia because a lot of my information has come from it =)**

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_Thanks to ALL my lovely reviewers! We've now got over 50 reviews and I am so excited! Thanks to EVERYBODY who has reviewed so far =) In order of reviews: _

_ladybella101, georginacastleorpington, MrsBlaCKwIfeY, Eridanus1123, hell-of-a-gal, minerdude, jayd-n33, brianneD, jessirose85, krissie92, NotSoSlightlyCrazy, soccercrazyfreak, cataloo456, bunny08, LadySelena.16, Deidaras Masterpiece, harrypotterlover123, 28mandy28, .lemon, CrunchyCamel, MissGenervaPotter, tashxdm_

**Summary:**

Hermione Granger wants to be popular. Some people may think that this is impossible, but with just the right help from Pansy...

In the last chapter Hermione has had quite an interesting tutoring session with Draco Malfoy...

"NO! You have it all wrong! _Grawlpi_ was the leader and _Grawkne_ was the main troll who lead the attack!" Hermione was equally as loud as he was.

"How can those ugly brutes start a rebellion anyway? Trolls are so dim witted that it's impossible for them even comprehend a language!" Malfoy all but slammed his fist into the table, making it wobble slightly under the force.

"If you'll just let me finish. The rebellion was an instant failure because of what you have so _kindly_ pointed out. It was all over in a matter of days." Hermione said this in a tone that suggested that she thought he was anything but kind.

...

"Goodnight then." With that, Draco quickly advanced to his room.

Hermione returned to her own room too, smug about winning the first fight. _If only there weren't any more_, she mused as she closed the door behind her.

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter Seven: It's a date!_

_Forgiveness is more than saying sorry, _

_Forgiveness means accepting people's flaws _

_-Samantha James, 'Forgiveness' from Just Friends_

The morning started off fine and dandy for Draco Malfoy. He was out of bed quite early again and walked down to the Slytherin dungeons like the previous day. He got Blaise out of bed and noticed again that his friend had not had any company whatsoever. However, Draco chose not to comment this time in fear of a punch from Blaise, and so had smartly kept his mouth shut. Breakfast was even better than the day before, and Draco swore to make this his new ritual, if not just to eat the absolutely _scrumptious_ blueberry muffins.

This morning, Granger was down at breakfast and so he took this opportunity to alert her of his very desperate need for the acquiring of intellectual knowledge surrounding the History of Magic.

"Granger, the Heads common room at six tonight again? Let's continue with what we were doing yesterday." He gave a wink, which he noticed caused a reaction from BOTH Granger and Pansy.

"O—Okay." Granger flustered and Draco watched Pansy give her a glare. Who knew girls were so easy to manipulate? He turned back to his breakfast and took a huge bite out of a large chocolate croissant.

* * *

Hermione entered the Great Hall and straightaway she saw the white blonde hair at the head of the Slytherin table. _Oh no_, she groaned in her head, _something's bound to happen this morning_.

She joined Pansy (and sadly) Malfoy and Blaise at the table. Aira, Cadria and Chantelle were nowhere to be seen. Keeping her head down, she prayed that Malfoy wouldn't speak to her this morning but was sorely disappointed.

"Granger, the Heads common room at six tonight again? Let's continue with what we were doing yesterday." The prat even had the nerve to give her a wink. Immediately, Pansy picked up those words too and suspiciously gave her a glare. Pansy was never known to be the queen of nice in the mornings (but really, when was she ever?) and now Hermione's little white lie from yesterday was caught out. BUSTED.

"O—Okay." Hermione replied shakily and her cheeks were red from nervousness. Nervousness at what the rest of her day with Pansy might entail that is. She bit her lip. Pansy glared at her again and this time Hermione was sure that Malfoy had seen it. He had a self-important look and was now fighting his way through a large chocolate croissant. Hermione, not feeling hungry, sipped at her glass of orange juice and waited for the bell to ring, to signify the start of classes.

* * *

Hermione sat in the empty classroom, alone. Well, obviously she was alone because the classroom was empty but anyway—on with the story— So yes, she was very much alone. It was lunch time and so far by some miraculous luck, she had avoided Pansy all day. She didn't want to face her at lunch with the whole school watching, and so was reflecting on her choices. She could either:

Go to the Hall and apologise to Pansy, with the whole school watching

Go to the Hall and NOT apologise to Pansy, and act as if nothing was wrong

Go to the Hall and sit with the Gryffindors

Not go anywhere and stay here in the classroom where she could put off making the decision

Hermione sighed, she really didn't have the guts to apologise to Pansy with the _whole school_ watching, even she knew that that was what she was supposed to do.

Behind her, Hermione heard the door creak open. She hoped it wasn't any of the girls or worse, Malfoy. She really couldn't deal with any of them for awhile.

"Hermione?" The familiar masculine voice brought a smile to her face as she turned around and flung her arms around the guy who she hadn't talked to for so long.

"Harry!" She exclaimed in joy and she felt his arms wrap around her body too in a tight embrace.

Hermione pulled back and once again felt guilty about neglecting her two best friends.

"Sorry…" she mumbled, her head to the floor in shame.

"Sorry about what?" Hermione's head quickly jerked up to find Ron—RON—leaning against the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. He gave her a half smile.

"I'm sorry about not spending any time with you anymore and for abandoning you guys." Once more Hermione's head hung low, speaking to the floor.

"That's okay Mione. We forgive you, don't we Ron?" Harry said reassuringly to her. Hermione slowly lifted her head up to face them again. Ron gave a nod. Hermione felt a grin creep across her face, but then was puzzled.

"Why are you two here? How did you know I was here?"

"We were just in your class Hermione, but I think you were too down to notice us." Harry joked as Hermione mentally kicked herself for not noticing two of the most important people in her life, "and you weren't in the Hall for lunch so Ron and I came to find you to cheer you up."

Hermione glowed with happiness as she realised the two amazing friends she had, not even needing to hear her apology before they forgave her.

"Now, do you want to tell us what happened so we can help you?" Harry gently nudged her and Hermione quickly shook her head. She couldn't tell Harry and Ron about Pansy probably angry enough to murder her and especially not about MALFOY.

"Don't worry about it guys, you coming to look for me has cheered me up immensely, and I've already worked out a solution" Hermione lied, though the part about them cheering her up was true.

"Great! Now what do you say about a baguette from the kitchen…" Harry questioned her as he made his way to the door.

"Sounds good!" Hermione laughed.

Harry left the room first, energetic and happy. He was followed by a silent Ron.

"Ron…" He looked back at Hermione still standing in the classroom, "Sorry." Hermione felt like an awful person for rejecting him.

"You're forgiven." This time, Ron gave her a real smile. "Race you to the kitchens!"

"Last one there has to steal Filch's underwear!" Hermione laughed as she joined her two friends, all of them sprinting their hardest and fastest towards the secret entrance to the kitchens. It was good to act like her younger and less complicated self for once, having fun with Harry and Ron like she used to.

* * *

It was after school and Hermione was walking in the hallway. She was planning to act like a coward again and avoid Pansy by hiding in the library. Hermione turned the corner and to her horror, she found herself face to face with the one she had been so desperate to avoid.

"Pa—Pansy!" She spluttered out, awaiting what curse or torture would come next. Aira, the twins and even Ginny were with her and Hermione wondered how they would react to her, especially Ginny. No doubt Pansy had told them about Hermione's 'betrayal'.

Pansy's cold eyes concentrated on hers. Hermione gulped, ready to either back down or apologise like mad for lying to her. Pansy took one step forward and bent down slightly so that her mouth was level with Hermione's ear.

"You better not betray me again, or I swear something not very nice will happen to you." Pansy whispered into Hermione's ear.

Hermione's mouth dropped open. She was expecting a nasty comment or a threat, but Pansy had forgiven her? She looked at Pansy, mouth open still and Pansy just looked at her with fake confusion.

"Where have you been Hermione? We've missed you at lunch, haven't we girls?" Pansy feigned surprise. She even gave Hermione a _hug_.

"Yeah Mione, we were worried sick about you cause we haven't seen you all day!" Cadria exclaimed.

"I was feeling a bit sick during lunch so I didn't come down." Hermione wasn't totally lying, she _had been_ feeling sick, but it was more mental anguish than physical illness.

Aira put a hand to her forehead as to feel her temperature, "You not sick still are you?"

"No."

Chantelle surprised Hermione by placing a delicate kiss on her cheek, and Ginny gave her a big hug, which was soon joined by everyone. There they all stood, motionless like that, for a couple of minutes.

To everyone, it felt as though something big had happened but of course the only people who knew anything were Hermione and Pansy. The red headed girl that still had her arms wrapped around Hermione could sense that something was off between the brunette and the dark haired girl, but chose to keep it to herself, at least for the time being.

* * *

Hermione told Pansy about her tutoring Draco Malfoy, and was relieved when Pansy wasn't angry at her. When six o'clock got closer, she excused herself from the Patronus war the girls were having, leaving her side with Ginny and Aira one team mate short and at a clear disadvantage.

She barely made it in time before the grandfather clock in their common room chimed the last chime.

"Where were you? I was thinking that you might not show up." Malfoy prodded her for answers.

"Oh shut up Malfoy." Hermione pulled out her chair and flipped open the text book, "Today's lesson is on the Ban of Experimental Breeding."

Malfoy suitably groaned out a protest.

Hermione smiled and began, "In 1965 Newt Scamander helped pass the Ban of Experimental Breeding, which protects the world from new and dangerous species, such as the Acromantula and the Chimera."

Hermione then began to illustrate point by point the exact steps that Newt Scamander had taken to issue such a ban, and then waited for Malfoy to make another remark, which he did without fail.

"If there was a ban on experimental breeding, then why in Merlin's name did they make us care for those Blast-Ended Skrewts?" Malfoy demanded to know.

Hermione suppressed a smile. She had learnt that this was Malfoy's most effective way of learning. He processed the information and actually thought about everything that he took in, as opposed to just blindly accepting each fact. Annoying, yes, but Hermione had learnt to deal with it.

Hermione patiently listened to his complaints of the school making them participate in such activities and hence—_breaking the law_ and secretly thought that it was rather nice sitting here listening to his voice…

"Granger! Granger!" Malfoy snapped his fingers in front of her face and that broker her out of her trance.

"You haven't been listening to me!" He stabbed his finger at her accusingly. Hermione thought his behaviour rather childish and immature, but yet Merlin-help-her, extremely cute.

"You're right." Hermione confessed to him, because though she had been listening amiably to his voice, she actually had no idea what he had been telling her.

"You are mean." Draco—Hermione couldn't help calling him Draco because he was acting so cute all of a sudden—pouted and whined, "You need to make it up to me."

"Well, what do you want then?" Hermione good-naturedly asked him, deciding to humour this suddenly adorable Draco.

"A date." He smirked and immediately Hermione was back to calling him Malfoy again.

"No bloody way, Malfoy."

"Awwww…come on Granger! It's just one measly date!"

"No is no Malfoy. Besides, why would you think that I'll say yes?"

She knew she really shouldn't have said that, because in the next moment Malfoy had produced a familiar looking black notebook. No, this was not her diary (**AN: sorry to disappoint readers!**) but her daily planner. Malfoy carelessly flipped through the thick pages until he jabbed his finger onto one date: 23rd December. Beneath that date Hermione had written 'Christmas Ball' in large cursive handwriting.

"So?" Hermione questioned him, angry but not surprised that he had gone through her stuff.

"That's in three weeks Granger." Malfoy said as if to explain. Hermione looked at him questioningly.

"It is our responsibility as the Head Boy and Head Girl to organise this, if you've forgotten. I've already made a list of all the things that we need and we are going to use the Hogsmead weekend as a chance to order, buy and plan everything."

To say Hermione was impressed would be an understatement. Malfoy had obviously put a lot of thought into creating the list. This was evident when she scanned through it and found items such as:

_Illusionary falling snow charms (x 100)_

_Giant pudding (x 25 – 5 for each house plus the teachers' table)_

_White frosted icing cake (x 25)_

_Invitations and tickets to be sold (x 1000)_

_Magical protection wards (x 80)_

Even the most trivial details such as all the different Christmas tree decorations and their exact numbers were on the list. Hermione Jane Granger was very impressed.

"Alright, I see your point. We do have to start preparing everything on here so I guess we can spend the Hogsmead weekend doing all this." Hermione thought it through logically and she couldn't find the harm in spending two days with the Head Boy doing her Head Girl duties.

Draco grinned widely as Granger agreed to the _date_. He could have jumped in the air and made loud whooping sounds had she not being in the room. He then reminded himself to calm down, when he noticed the time.

"Dinner is in five minutes! Hurry up Granger and let's get going!" He raced for the door, with Granger not far behind him.

* * *

They both reached the Great Hall just as the massive double doors closed, with Granger panting slightly behind him.

"I'll look forward to spending some alone time with you on our date Granger." Draco smirked at her.

"What? You think it'll be just us? Sorry to burst your bubble Malfoy but I'm going to ask Ginny to help." Granger smirked back at him as she pushed open the doors and slipped inside.

Draco stared at her, aghast. If the Weaselette was coming with them then he was going to invite Blaise. Draco opened the doors once more and sat himself down at his usual seat, next to Pansy. He ignored everyone else at the table and focused on his question to Blaise.

"Blaise," the Italian turned to face him, "do you have any plans for the Hogsmead weekend?"

"I do."

"Oh" Draco's face fell, "Oh"

"I'm not going to blow my plans off for you Draco." Blaise kindly patted him on the arm, "Maybe next time alright mate?"

Draco was not looking forward to the Hogsmead weekend anymore. Not unless Ginerva Weasley was planning to drop dead sometime soon in the next few days at least, which Draco highly doubted.

"Are you alright Malfoy?" Granger laughed at his misfortune, although in truth only he knew that she was.

"Yes, I'm fan-fucking-tastic Granger. Thanks for your concern." He replied ever so sarcastically, which was lost on everybody but her.

And to this Granger laughed.

_Yes_, thought Draco, _this Hogsmead weekend is just going to be fantabulous_.

* * *

_AN: Again, very very sorry about the quality of my writing =( I will try harder to improve!_

_Exciting news: Guess who's got tickets to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince the day it comes out (on the 15th)? ME! I've booked tickets and I'm so SO excited to see it! More love for Draco in the HBP... YAY!_

_Love it? Hate it? Indifference? Leave me a review so I know! Thanks!~_


	8. Everything For Everyone Goes Right

_AN: Yes, I am BACK! This time, the story focuses on some other characters and less on Hermione and Draco, so please tell me what you think about the new development! *NEW*: I have also included a footnote in this chapter--- yay or nay? Also, I have realised that in the previous chapter I have spelt 'Hogsmeade' wrongly (I spelt it 'Hogsmead') so I apologise!_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created by J.K Rowling**

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Thank you my wonderful WONDERFUL reviewers of last chapter =) 15 REVIEWS and I had 10 reviews in one night! The most I have ever received for a chapter so THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!~

_LadySelena.16, RedHeadRandomness, 28Mandy28, Azn-Jenn, krissie92, jayd-n33, tashxdm, ecjmommy, MrsBlaCKwIfeY, soccercrazyfreak, harrypotterlover123, MysteryShadow101, ladybella101, MissGinervaPotter, bubbbbbba_25_

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Last Chapter:

"I'm not going to blow my plans off for you Draco." Blaise kindly patted him on the arm, "Maybe next time alright mate?"

Draco was not looking forward to the Hogsmeade weekend anymore. Not unless Ginerva Weasley was planning to drop dead sometime soon in the next few days at least, which Draco highly doubted.

"Are you alright Malfoy?" Granger laughed at his misfortune, although in truth only he knew that she was.

"Yes, I'm fan-fucking-tastic Granger. Thanks for your concern." He replied ever so sarcastically, which was lost on everybody but her.

And to this Granger laughed.

_Yes_, thought Draco, _this Hogsmeade weekend is just going to be fantabulous_.

* * *

_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter Eight: Everything For Everyone Goes Right_

Blaise was walking in the hallway when he spotted _her_. By _her_ he was referring to the girl that he had been crushing on for nearly an entire month. Blaise hated the way she could make him lose his sexual appetite and he hated the way she seemed oblivious to his intentions (not that he had ever made it clear to her in the first place). Most of all, he hated the fact that she was in love with someone else, someone that wasn't him. He had had enough of living in the shadows and following her around, suddenly alert whenever she innocently passed his classroom, and the way she was always tempting him by her mere presence. All of this…confusion in the dark would stop. Right now, right here, because Blaise was going to confess and come clean. Everything would soon be in the light and he would get his answer.

Slowly, he walked towards the girl of his dreams, the solitary _tap-tap_ of his shoes creating an echo in the empty hallway. The girl turned her pretty head around and he beamed a smile at her.

"Hey, I was wondering if I can have a chat with you…"

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

A lone girl sat on the roof of the Ravenclaw tower, her legs swinging to and fro, humming a soft tune to herself. A talk with a certain person and left her very excited for THE BIG DAY. She couldn't help but smile as she thought of the Hogsmeade weekend. It was going to be brilliant. She could just imagine the jealous stares that she would get from the girls when she got back. _No_, she thought, _I'll let them find out after I come back, keep it a surprise_. Just then, a voice called out to her.

"Pansy! How did you get up here? You're not a Ravenclaw so who let you in?" Chantelle was making her way towards her.

"The same way you got up here. Now be quiet for a moment, I'm here to reflect." Pansy smiled at the younger girl.

"How do you know about Terry Boot?" Chantelle was nervous, because she was sure her relationship with the seventh year Ravenclaw was a secret, "Why did he let you up here?"

"We did used to date Chantelle, but that was years ago. Now I'll say that we are still on friendly grounds. He was the one who showed me this view." Pansy smiled and she swept her arm out in front of her, gesturing the scenery before them.

Chantelle had to admit, the view was pretty spectacular. This was one of her favourite spots in all of Hogwarts. Below the girls the land was covered by the luscious greenery of the Forbidden Forest, and beyond was the glittering waters of the Black Lake. It was truly breathtaking. After a minute of silence Chantelle suddenly remembered something.

"Pansy, are we still having the shopping trip with the girls tomorrow? Now that you know about Terry I was wondering…"

"Yes, it's alright. Go spend the weekend with Boot, I was going to cancel anyway. Something came up." Pansy grinned at the younger girl.

"Thanks!" Chantelle excitedly sprang up from her sitting position, "I'm going to pick out an outfit for tomorrow then!"

Pansy watched as her friend scrambled back into the Ravenclaw tower. She herself could barely contain the excitement of the following day.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

Harry, Ron and Ginny were all in the Gryffindor common room playing a game of Exploding Snap. Well, Harry and Ron were, and Ginny were just watching them, slightly bored albeit amused at their silly antics.

"Look over there Harry!! ARGHH!" Harry turned around to look at what Ron was pointing at, whilst Ron took the opportunity to quickly flip both piles of cards until he found a pair of matching ones.

"Snap! I won! I won!" Ron gleefully shouted out. This caused Ginny to burst into giggles because she had witnessed the entire event.

"You cheated!" Harry pointed an accusing finger Ron, "You're a cheater!" Despite his words Harry's entire body was shaking from laughter.

The cards were soon thrown at Ron and they exploded right in his face. A look of shock overcame him and the force from the explosion left his hair messed up. This time both Harry and Ginny were clutching their sides with laughter and Ron slowly started to join in.

After all three had calmed down enough they started making plans for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend.

"So what are we doing together for tomorrow?" Harry asked the two. Secretly, he was looking forward to spending two days with Ginny.

"Will Hermione be joining us? Or is she busy with her new friends?" Ron's voice sounded slightly bitter.

"Um…well…I'll be helping Hermione and Malfoy with the Christmas Ball during the weekend." Ginny apologised to the boys.

"Aww come on Ginny, can't you spare a little time for Ron and I?" Harry begged Ginny, "We've hardly spent any time with you or Hermione."

Ginny thought about it then replied, "I'll talk to Hermione. We just might be able to fit in a couple of butterbeers with you two." She grinned at them and they both grinned back.

"It's a plan then."

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

**Day of the Hogsmeade weekend: Day 1**

Hermione was waiting patiently in the common room for Malfoy to appear, dressed in a warm puffy jacket and a pair of old comfortable jeans. Just as she was about to knock on his door for the fourth time that morning the door opened. Malfoy emerged wearing a clean light blue shirt and black jeans. He looked at Hermione up and down. Hermione felt like a snowman compared to him and she could only hope Ginny was similarly dressed like herself.

"Why are you dressed like that Granger?" Malfoy frowned at her.

"What's wrong with my clothes? I'm dressed casually. Why are you so _dressed up_?" Hermione looked down at her outfit and she felt incredibly underdressed, though she wasn't trying to impress anyone with her clothes in the first place.

"This is called _casual_ Granger. I can't help it if _my_ casual looks much better than _your_ casual." Malfoy gloated, knowing full well that he always looked good and much better than her.

"Let's just go Malfoy, we've got a lot to do."

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

Ginny was waiting for them by the gates. She raced over when she spotted the familiar mess of brown hair followed by the luminescent blonde. As she got closer to them she could hear their bickering.

"Why do we have to get up this early?" Malfoy grumbled to Hermione.

"Because we are going to meet up with Harry and Ron first up." Ginny answered for Hermione.

"WHAT?! You made me get up _this_ early to meet Pothead and Weaselbee??" To say the least, Malfoy was suddenly awake and furious.

"No, _we_ are going to meet Harry and Ron; _you_ are going to go buy the first things on the list." Hermione calmly explained to him, with just a hint of a smirk. Saying this Ginny and Hermione both started off towards the track heading to Hogsmeade. Malfoy's expression was one of aghast.

"Hey! Have you been listening to me?!" Malfoy shouted behind them, "I refuse to be manipulated into your evil plan! I refuse to go by myself and buy those items!"

Hermione waved at him without turning back, "Do whatever you want then, I don't care if you go back to sleep again. But since you are already up you might as well just get some things done already. Ginny and I will probably only be around forty minutes if you care to know, we'll meet up with you as soon as it finishes."

The two girls had almost given up hope that Malfoy would comply, when he ran forwards and caught up to them. He joined them on the rocky path and slowed down to match their pace, though he still remained a metre behind them.

"You better only be forty minutes Granger." He growled at her and Hermione and Ginny shared a secret smile.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

Harry and Ron met the girls outside The Three Broomsticks. They noticed that Malfoy came with them.

"What's he doing here?" Harry whispered to Hermione as he whipped her up into a friendly hug.

"He's going to make a start on the items. The Christmas ball is only weeks away and so far we've got nothing. You'll be surprised at how helpful and cooperative Malfoy's been." Hermione whispered back to him.

"Helpful? Cooperative? Malfoy?" Harry exclaimed none too quietly, and unfortunately was heard by everyone excluding Ginny, who was across the street, lusting after several gowns in a dress shop.

"If you must know, Potter, it was I who had single-handedly organised everything so far. The Head Girl has been quite disappointing in her duties lately, and only thinks of slacking off with morons like you."

Hermione saw Harry's fist clench together and quickly broke up the fight.

"Come on guys, we've only got forty minutes so we better get inside now."

Ginny had returned by now and obviously didn't want to see a fight either and so had started dragging Harry by the arm into the shop, but not before making puppy-eyes at a dress shop again. Hermione quickly pushed at Ron's back, shoving him in as well despite his protests and groans of "Only forty minutes Mione?"

With a curt nod at Malfoy she gave him one last push into The Three Broomsticks before they both disappeared from his view.

Draco stood outside in the snow for a good deal before snapping out of the trance and remembering that he had a lot of things to do. Maybe if they finished everything early they could still have time for other stuff. Shaking his head at how _he_, the Slytherin Prince, had been manipulated by a simple little girl, he reached into his pocket and took out the crinkled piece of paper.

Walking in the direction of the shops, Draco didn't know what he had done to deserve such a bad day, with Granger and the Weaselette.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

It was ten o'clock and Blaise quickly ran a comb through his freshly washed and spell-dried hair. Perfect. Today was going to be just that. Holding his chin in his fingers, he turned his face left and right to check in the mirror that there was no unsightly blemish on his tanned skin. Satisfied at last, he picked up a bouquet of white lilies and started out the dorms towards Hogsmeade.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

Pansy sat in front of her massive vanity table, pulling a brush through her hair. She sighed, today was the big day. She had been prepared for this but now she felt nervous. Maybe she could call up via Floo Network and cancel? But it was too late for that now. Taking deep breaths of air to calm her nerves, she picked up the glass of water and noted with annoyance at herself that her hand was shaking. _Stupid_, Pansy chided in her head, _it's not that big of a deal_. Telling herself that, she put the glass down and picked up her wand, prepared for the weekend ahead.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

Time went by extremely fast and everybody was surprised when a certain brunette exclaimed –"Oh"!

"Is something wrong Hermione?" Ron asked her.

"It's been thirty-eight minutes already! We should hurry and find Malfoy now Ginny, we promised to meet him after forty minutes!"

"Alright then," Ginny agreed, "bye Harry, bye Ron!"

Quick hugs were exchanged and Hermione and Ginny left the comfort and warmth of The Three Broomsticks.

On the way out, Hermione noticed Ginny, eyes transfixed on the dresses again. Hermione breathed a sigh.

"Go Ginny."

"Excuse me?" Ginny broke eye contact with the dresses and looked worryingly at Hermione, "Do you not want me to be here?"

"No, but you don't want to be here, am I right?" Hermione asked her but Ginny didn't reply, "I'll be fine with Malfoy, you go ahead and enjoy your weekend. I feel bad for ruining your fun and a weekend you've been looking forward to for so long. You're officially released."

Hermione smiled at her, though in her heart she hoped that Ginny would say no and stick with her for the rest of the weekend. No such luck though.

"Thanks Hermione!" Ginny hugged her friend and kissed her on each cheek, "You're a really good friend!" Saying this, she ran off to the store.

Hermione was left standing in the street. She felt a little bit better, but wasn't looking forward to spending two whole days of planning a Christmas ball with Malfoy one bit. _At least Ginny's happy I guess, and no doubt Malfoy_.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

True to Hermione's beliefs, Draco was over the moon that the she-Weasel would not be joining them. Or at least as over-the-moon a boy could be with a scowl plastered over his face, because he had been going from shop to shop for forty minutes.

Granger looked at the crinkled parchment of paper. Her eyes were wide with shock.

"Malfoy! Have you really gotten all these things sorted?!" Granger help up the sheet and pointed at the many, _many _items that had been crossed out. Draco smirked at her open amazement.

"Yup"

Granger couldn't help but give him a large smile, giving him a warm and gushy feeling inside.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

The rest of the day went alright, much to Hermione's surprise. When they were ordering fairy lights Malfoy had used his charms on the middle-aged woman in the shop, striking them a dozen or two extra fairies* (**AN: real fairies –please check footnotes**) on a cheaper price. The same happened in the other shops where they had ordered flowers, cooking ingredients and illusionary falling snow charms. Malfoy's charms only affected the women though and so he left the haggling with the male shop keepers to Hermione. Of course, no shop keeper stood a chance against the brightest-witch-of-her-age. Hermione found that they were now under the budget by quite a bit and had only a few more items left to buy the next day. Malfoy had behaved differently from how she had expected him to behave, and she found that the day was not nearly as bad as she had imagined. It had been an _almost_ enjoyable day really.

"We made quite a good team today." She told him and he even grinned at her.

Hermione gave Malfoy one last smile before she returned into her room.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

Draco was thinking about how successful the day had gone when Hermione had spoken to him for the last time that night.

"We made quite a good team today." Draco couldn't help but grin at this. Before she went into her room, she gave him one more dazzling smile, leaving him with the gushy feeling again.

* * *

Footnote:

*fairy lights (sourced from the Harry Potter encyclopaedia)- Flitwick decorated his classroom with Christmas lights – "fairy lights" – and they turned out to be real fairies [POA10]; during the Yule Ball, the lawn in front of the castle was transformed into a grotto filled with rose bushes full of fairy lights, which were hundreds of living fairies [GOF23]; Professor Slughorn decorated his office for the Christmas party with real fairies as decorations [HBP15]

_Once again, thank you all so much for reading this story and an even BIGGER thank you to my lovely reviewers!! :D_

_I'm going to be starting school tomorrow again, so I'll be a fair bit slower with new chapters (the teachers are all slave drivers I tell you!) but I'm hoping one chapter a week, or if not every two weeks as the bare minimum!!_

_Love it? Hate it? Hate to say this again but I'm not a mind reader so please write me a review to let me know!! Thanks!!~_

_-Y_


	9. Blaise's Little Secret

_AN: Just to clarify, Voldemort has been defeated and all of DH has happened in the previous year. However, there is still quite a lot of prejudice by the purebloods and most of them (including the Malfoys) still stick to their old beliefs. That is the main reason Draco is so confused with his feelings, because it is his reason vs his emotions. _

IMPORTANT _I hoped that you guys have realised that when I was writing from Draco's POV he referred to Hermione as 'Granger' and when it was from Hermione's POV she referred to him as 'Malfoy'. Hopefully, you have also realised that sometimes when they were referring to the other person there would be 'slip-ups' and they referred to each other by their first names. This is important because as it shows the attitude and feelings they have towards each other. _

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**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling not me (which I'm sure you all know!)**

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_Thank you reviewers!!! _

_harrypotterlover123, 28Mandy28, bubbbbbba_25, tashxdm, jayd-n33, Sugarlover, soccercrazyfreak, Briar, MrsBlaCKwIfeY, demon prince 13, georginacastleorpington and special thanks to MysteryShadow101!!! You guys have been amazing so thank you~ A bit sad that some users are anonymous because I couldn't reply to your reviews! _

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LAST CHAPTER:

_Draco was thinking about how successful the day had gone when Hermione had spoken to him for the last time that night._

_"We made quite a good team today." Draco couldn't help but grin at this. Before she went into her room, she gave him one more dazzling smile, leaving him with the gushy feeling again._

* * *

_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter Nine: Blaise's Little Secret ;)_

Blaise got up from the bed. He gazed at the girl who was still softly asleep in it. Her expression was calm and angelic almost. He smiled. Blaise wished that he could continue to lie here with her like this, but he knew that he couldn't. If somebody found them together under such circumstances they would definitely misunderstand. As much as Blaise didn't care what other people thought of him, he didn't want any bad rumours to be spread about the girl who was still sleeping peacefully in the bed. They didn't do anything, though if they were discovered nobody would believe them. Placing one last soft kiss on her cheek, he tore himself away from the bed and put on a heavy cloak, ready to go back to his own room. He felt guilty about leaving her alone, because he had promised that he would not leave her until morning, but drove that guilt into the back of his mind. He would rather be guilty than take risks in this relationship. Blaise took one last look at the figure lying in the bed, and closed the door.

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Pansy lay on the metal bed with the white sheets. It reminded her of a hospital. She missed the softness and comfort of her own bed. Pansy turned in the queen sized bed. With her hand, she reached across and her hand was met with…nothing. There was no other person lying next to her. A moment of panic went through her as she realised she was alone. She hated being alone, yet everyday was like this, a void of darkness. Pansy yearned now for somebody to cling onto, to embrace. The numbing pain on her face was unbearable, indescribable and she ached to have somebody hold her, to tell her that the pain would be gone soon. With heavy thoughts, she continued to drift in and out of sleep, wishing for a certain person to be with her right that second. She knew that these would always be unfulfilled wishes, yet she still dared to dream.

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**DAY OF THE HOGSMEADE WEEKEND: DAY 2**

Hermione awoke that morning nice and early. She couldn't sleep in and decided to get ready for the day ahead. Malfoy and herself had gotten along wonderfully the day before and they had managed to get most of the items on the list done. There wasn't much to do today so Hermione decided to give him a well deserved rest and wake him up later.

Opening her bedroom door, she was met by the delicious aroma of coffee and toast. Malfoy was sitting at the table reading the latest edition of the monthly Quidditch magazine. He looked up when he saw her and actually _smiled_. _He's got a nice smile_, Hermione thought, before she chased that notion out of her head.

"Morning" Hermione said cheerfully, "Are these for me?" She gestured to the extra plate of toast and the second mug of coffee.

"Yes, I got the house elves to prepare us breakfast. We've got another day of shopping ahead of us."

Hermione frowned at the idea of Malfoy menacing the house elves and contemplated for a second on whether to refuse to eat her breakfast but then decided against it. It was one of the first nice gestures Malfoy had shown towards her and Hermione knew it was foolish to let good food go to waste. Cautiously, she took a bite, wondering if Malfoy had poisoned the bread.

Feeling no immediate danger or deadly reaction to the toast, Hermione ventured for another bite. It was almost heavenly, eating on a Sunday morning and having toast with a coffee. Hermione finished the rest of her breakfast in high spirits.

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It was now noon and Hermione had now crossed off the last item on the list: invitation cards. She happily twirled on the street, much to the amusement of Draco Malfoy.

"Why are you so happy Granger?" he asked.

"We've just finished the last thing on the list." Hermione beamed at him. It really was easy to forget all the horrible things he had done to her when he was like this. For the entire weekend he had been nothing but a perfect gentleman to her.

Malfoy pulled at her wrist in the direction of the dress shop.

"Come on." He impatiently tugged at her sleeve. Hermione was feeling quite flushed from the previous contact. She wondered if he had noticed her reaction. Malfoy seemed oblivious.

Relaxing, Hermione asked him, "Why are we going there? Do you need to buy dress robes?"

"No," Malfoy smirked at her, "We are going to get you a dress."

Hermione was still in shock at his statement as she allowed herself to be lead into the boutique.

As they duo entered the shop an assistant came running over to them. She gave Hermione a long hard stare then focused her attention on Malfoy, much to the annoyance of Hermione.

"How may I help you, _sir_?" The girl was probably in her early twenties and was obviously quite interested in Malfoy, though he was at least four years younger than her.

"This girl wants to buy a dress." Malfoy gestured towards Hermione, making her feel quite awkward under the spiteful glare of the shop assistant. Deciding that the easiest way to get rid of Hermione was to send her to the fitting rooms, the assistant handed Hermione dress after dress and shoved her none too gently towards the rooms. Hermione protested as much as she could, and even glared at Malfoy, but he gave her a cheeky look.

Hermione sighed and stepped into the fitting rooms. She did happen to be in need of a few dresses.

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Draco was sitting in a large comfortable chair waiting for Granger to try on the dresses. Perched on the armrest of the chair, the shop assistant –Anna—as she had told him, was asking him questions and he was trying to be polite.

"So, what did you say your name was again?" Anna asked him.

"I didn't, but it's Draco." The girl seemed to lean down closer. Draco did not miss the small movement as the girl crossed one leg over the over and slightly hitched up her skirt a little higher. He cringed.

"So Draco, do you have a girlfriend currently?" Geeze, the girl was much more than straightforward.

"Actually, I have lots of girlfriends." Draco aimed to put the girl off.

"You must be very popular... I get off work at five-thirty, if you want to catch up." The girl was obviously not taking the hint. Just as Draco was about to make it clearer to her that he was not interested, a tanned male walked towards them. It just so happened that this particular male was Blaise Zabini.

The assistant got up from the armrest of the chair and purred, "Mr Zabini."

Draco watched the evident disgust on Blaise's face. It was then that he wondered what Blaise was doing here _holding two dresses_ in his hand. A sudden connection was made in Draco's head. Blaise was here shopping with his _girlfriend_.

Apparently, Blaise had also just figured out that Draco knew.

"Sorry mate, I just didn't know how you would react to the news. We had only started dating yesterday." Blaise explained.

_Yesterday?_ Draco was confused. Blaise had only started dating her yesterday but his actions that month were really quite peculiar. And so Draco told exactly that to his friend.

Blaise looked embarrassed.

"Actually, I was the one who asked her out. Before this I had a crush on her so I might have acted a bit weird then..."

Draco was impressed. Whoever this girl was, she must have been pretty special for his friend to be the one making the move. If he remembered correctly, this must be Blaise's third official girlfriend. Girlfriend #1 was a younger Slytherin, but was dumped after a week when she became too clingy. Blaise's Girlfriend #2 was a Ravenclaw, but she was dumped shortly as well. After the first two girlfriends Blaise had realised that his life was much easier with one night stands and no-strings-attached sex. In conclusion, Girlfriend #3 must be pretty incredible for Blaise to start dating again.

During the conversation between the two, another customer had entered the store and the shop assistant had immediately rushed over to attend to the poor man. It was also at this moment that Hermione Granger stepped out of the fitting rooms.

Draco's mouth nearly dropped open. She was wearing a floaty light blue dress. At the top it tied around her neck like a halter neck and the bottom swished when she moved, revealing the many layers of soft silks and veil material.

Right then Draco realised something. He _liked_ her. There really was no denying it now. He didn't think she was ugly. He thought she was honestly the prettiest girl he had ever seen, though in an odd and inconspicuous way. He was sick of holding back his emotions. At this moment when he was looking at her standing in front of the fitting rooms he couldn't care less than she was a muggle-born. _Pureblood be damned_.

"There was no mirror in the cubicle." Hermione gazed down shyly and explained.

"You look good." Blaise nodded his approval.

When Draco found his voice again he also gave his compliments, "You should consider buying that dress."

Hermione frowned at him though he didn't know why. He didn't think that he had offended her.

"This dress is 300 galleons." She whispered to him, "You expect me to pay this much for a lousy dress?"

Draco did not think that the dress was lousy at all. He thought it looked fantastic on her, though of course he wouldn't tell her that. His acceptance of the fact that he liked her did not extend to the stage where he would openly announce it yet.

Hermione stepped back into the cubical. Draco tried to make conversation with her.

"Hermio-Granger, who are you going to the Christmas ball with?" Blaise gave him a weird look. In his mind Draco groaned. _Smart move, _really _subtle Draco_.

"Why? You're not asking me to go with you are you?" Draco could hear her laugh from inside the cubicle. She was obviously finding this amusing and treating it like a joke.

"No." Draco gritted out through clenched teeth, "I was merely curious that's all. I was curious as to who would want to go to the ball with a buck-teethed, know-it-all, frizzy-haired freak like you." When Draco said this he knew he had gone a little too far. He wanted to tell her that he was being immature, to apologise to her. He felt like a third grade boy teasing his crush, so that the poor girl would notice him.

To his relief, Hermione just laughed and took it well. He realised with falling spirits that it was because of the countless insults he had called her before and she was used to it.

"If you must know, a lot of guys have asked me but I haven't decided on anyone yet." Hermione sounded pleased with herself as she said this.

"Like who?" Draco wanted to scope out the competition.

"Well, there was Owen Cauldwell, Ritchie Coote, Michael Corner and Cormac Mclaggen." Hermione counted by pointing to each finger as she recalled each name.

Draco could feel his chances slipping away as she imaginarily ticked off each name. He had a one in five chance and judging by their current positions, he was most likely on the bottom of that ranking.

A voice alerted the three and they all turned to face the door of the cubicle two doors down that was opening.

"Blaise? What do you think about this dress?"

Hermione looked confused.

"His girlfriend." Draco whispered to her. She nodded knowingly.

He was anxious to see who it was. Was it a Slytherin? Was she a Ravenclaw? Draco hoped to Merlin that it wasn't a Hufflepuff. All of the Hufflepuffs did not take kindly to him and he hoped to be happy for his friend.

As the door to the cubicle opened to the direction of Draco, he couldn't see who the girl that was his best mate's love interest was. Her body was blocked by the door, and all he could see of her was the green strappy heels. _Green?_ Draco hoped that it was a Slytherin. The girl took a step forward and he could see one leg, then the other, then the upper body. She had a nice figure and he approved of Blaise's choice. A second step caused her to be fully visible. Draco was shocked. He sneaked a glance at Hermione and her mouth had dropped open.

"Ginny?!"

The redhead gave Hermione a sheepish smile, "Hello Hermione."

"Draco, Hermione, this is my girlfriend." Blaise introduced.

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_AN: I went to see HBP on the 15th as most of you already know....it was AMAZING! It was the first time I had seen HP in the cinemas, so it felt a bit weird being in a cinema watching the film. I watched it again after school today =D My fave scenes were the bathroom one and the end one where Draco points his wand at Dumbledore. Tom Felton is such a talented actor! How did everyone else find the movie? I was also very happy when Emma said that she used to have a crush on Tom. Very cute! _


	10. The Secret, the Gossip and the Jealousy

_AN: Wow I was so surprised not to mention HAPPY when my story made it past 100 reviews! Thank you so much guys for supporting this story and for putting up with me for this long! This chapter isn't as interesting, because I had expected to get much further than this, but I got side tracked. I promise that things will get *interesting* in the next chappie! :) Random question: Who likes Shakespeare? I love poetry, mainly because I don't understand it but at the same time it sounds so beautiful :)_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I am merely a fan folks ;)**

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_Thank you to all the amazing reviewers of last chapter! That was the most reviews I had EVER received for a story (23 reviews!!!) so thank you all so much!!!_

_soccercrazyfreak, harrypotterlover123, MissGinervaPotter, georginacastleorpington, bunny08, Christianna Rico, voldyismyfather, MrsBlaCKwIfeY, ambie176, MysteryShadow101, Kelsey, NotSoSlightlyCrazy, tashxdm, jayd-n33, Leanora, LadySelena.16, bri, 28mandy28, RonzLover4Ever7, LynZann, C O O K i E x M O N S T E R_

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RECAP: Hermione wants to become popular and who better to help her than Pansy? Characters had been acting weirdly and in the last chapter it was revealed that Blaise had a girlfriend...GINNY! So what was the deal with Pansy then?

"Ginny?!"

The redhead gave Hermione a sheepish smile, "Hello Hermione."

"Draco, Hermione, this is my girlfriend." Blaise introduced.

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter 10: The Secret, the Gossip and the Jealousy_

Pansy strode purposefully down the hall, ignoring the surprise on the faces of the other students. _Tap tap tap tap tap_… All the heads turned to look her way and the crowds of students had all ceased to walk as they looked at her in wonder and amazement. Pansy loved being the centre of attention, and what she had done now was _definitely_ attention-attracting.

She opened the door to the classroom and made her way over to the table where she usually sat during Charms with the sixth years. It was a combined class with the 6th and 7th year Slytherins. Aira noticed her first and nudged the other girls, and on all their faces were shock.

Pansy smiled at them and sat down.

"Pansy—your nose!" Cadria pointed to it with bewilderment.

Yes, she, Pansy Parkinson had gotten a muggle surgery known as a 'nose job'.

"I know." Pansy replied proudly, waiting for the girls to bombard her with questions. And they did without fail. Shouts of "How?!" and "When?!" were heard and audible from even three classrooms down.

"Well, I was on the waiting list for a long time and the day before the Hogsmeade weekend the clinic contacted me. They told me that my application had gone through and I could start the operation right away the next day. So, I spent my weekend getting this operation."

Chantelle gently stroked her nose. "Does it hurt?" she asked gingerly.

"Not anymore, but Merlin I was in pain last night!" Pansy exclaimed dramatically, "It was the most painful experience I had ever gone through in my life!"

"Do they only do noses? Do you think they can fix my jaw line?" Aira asked Pansy, her fingers worriedly holding her jaw.

"I can give you their address and you can owl them if you want. They perform muggle surgery but they are wizards. The shop is in Knockturn Alley and quite exclusive because it is the only shop of this sort." Pansy jotted down an address on a piece of paper for Aira. "The waiting list takes ages though."

Draco walked in at that moment. His eyes went wide as he saw Pansy.

"Merlin Pansy! What have you done with your nose?!" Pansy smiled at him with what she hoped was an alluring smile.

"I had a muggle surgery performed on my nose. Do you like it Drakie?"

Draco replied, "It looks better than before." Draco didn't like it, but it did look better than the pug nose she used to have. He didn't really like the idea of people cutting up someone's face and sewing it back together again. The thought of it alone made him sick.

"Pansy! What on earth happened to your nose?" Blaise had just walked into the classroom and he was greatly shocked by Pansy's 'new look'.

"I had muggle surgery procedure done to it ok?" Pansy was starting to get sick of answering the same questions. "Where have you been all this time? Aren't you normally quite early for Charms?"

Blaise grinned sheepishly.

"I was talking with my girlfriend."

Everyone in the room had heard his statement and they were all immediately all-ears and attentive, eager to hear more about this mystery girl.

"Who is it? Is it the 6th year curly-haired blonde?" Aira asked him excitedly, but Blaise made a zipping motion across his lips, indicating that he would not say anything.

"You'll find out soon enough." He replied casually.

"Draco knows, don't you Draco? Tell us tell us!" Cadria hassled Draco.

Draco shook his head, "I'm not saying anything."

Everyone in the room was soon wondering about Blaise's new girl. All of the students, boys and girls alike, were quite disappointed. The girls were sorry that the second most eligible male in Hogwarts was not-so-eligible anymore. The boys were disheartened that another pretty female was taken, leaving them with even a lesser chance of finding a girlfriend. The disappointment soon turned into gossip.

Whisperings of "it's Astoria Greengrass" and other such remarks were heard.

Blaise growled under his breath, then declared with annoyance, "Why does everyone assume that it's a blonde?"

"Because we know that Blaise Zabini," Pansy mockingly patted his cheek, "won't date anyone who's not a D-cup, blonde, and in either Slytherin or Ravenclaw."

Blaise smiled triumphantly at her. "Sorry to disappoint everyone then, but you are all wrong. I wasn't planning to tell you this until later but… my girlfriend is…" Blaise paused for dramatic effect. Everyone in the classroom had inched slightly closer to hear his next words. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Ginny Weasely?" A Slytherin girl announced quite loudly. Blaise was slightly surprised that someone had already found out, but when he turned to look at the person she wasn't looking at him at all. In fact, she was looking at a red head standing shyly in the corridor.

Seeing Blaise, Ginny quickly scurried in and handed him a wand.

"You dropped this before." She quietly said, only loud enough for him and others within a metre of them to hear.

"Thanks." Blaise could feel himself grinning. She gave him a smile as well, and made off to leave. Quickly, Blaise grabbed her wrist and swiftly planted a kiss on her cheek, surprising her and making her turn bright red. Ginny hurriedly dashed off.

The room was silent. Everyone was speechless.

Draco cleared his throat, "How corny." He stated in a sour tone.

"Ahh, but that's love my friend." Blaise looked at him with a comic expression, "You'll experience it someday too."

Draco stuck out his tongue in disgust.

"I will not."

"You will too." Blaise retorted just as childishly.

"I say I won't so I won't. I shall never act like that should I ever fall in love, which I won't." Draco smugly replied.

"Then you don't know what you are missing out on mate." Blaise told him.

"Whatever." Draco was feeling incredibly immature today. It might have been the after effects of brain damage, due to imagining Pansy's face being sliced open with a knife, which Draco no doubt suspected.

"Are you telling me that GINNY WEASLEY is your girlfriend?" Pansy had found her voice again, and demanded an answer from Blaise.

"Why yes." Blaise snickered, "You were saying something about D-cup blondes before I believe?"

Pansy gave him an irritated look.

"Shut up." She pretended to glare at him, "But what are you going to do about Potter and Weasley?"

"Nothing." Blaise looked at her questioningly, "Should I be?"

"You should be worried Blaise!" Chantelle exclaimed, "Better yet, buy a protection charm. (**AN: No, not THAT kind of protection**) You should be careful these days."

Blaise gave her an I-always-thought-that-you-were-slightly-odd-but-now-it's-been-proved kind of look.

"Why should they try to attack me? I haven't done anything wrong."

"Ginny is the red head's sister and everyone knows that Potter likes her." Cadria tried to make him understand.

"Too bad for Potter then." Blaise just refused to see the imminent danger.

"Don't say that we didn't warn you then." Aira told him and so reluctantly all students returned to face the front again, because that was the end of that particular conversation.

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By noon the entire school had heard of the news. Walking down the hallways Ginny was stopped several times by Gryffindors and even a few Hufflepuffs who were congratulating her on finding such a 'nice catch'.

Pansy, Aira, Cadria and Chantelle had each given her their blessings too. They also warned her to watch out for Harry and Ron, and Ginny understood their warning. She didn't know how to face her brother or her friend either. Everyone else thought that it was fine for her to date Blaise Zabini, but she knew that Harry and Ron would be anything but supportive. Neither of the boys got along with her new boyfriend, and Ginny was not oblivious to Harry's crush on her. She did not return his feelings, and she had hoped that during this school year she had made it quite plain to him.

These thoughts were pushed out of her head as more students congratulated her on her way to class, to which Ginny smiled at them and expressed her thanks.

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Hermione was preparing some reading materials in the library for the evening tutoring session with Draco, when she met the angry Ron and Harry.

"Did you know about this?" Ron grabbed her shoulders roughly as soon as he saw her.

"Know what?" Hermione asked innocently, wishing that it was not about what she thought it was.

"That my sister is dating a _Slytherin_." No such luck. "I found out just then when my sister was _making out_ with _him_ in the hallways and the boys were making catcalls and wolf-whistling."

"I only just found out yesterday, and it was by accident. You've seen her with other boys as well before, so what makes this time any different?" Hermione pushed his hands off her shoulder and stepped out of his grasp. "I need to find a few books, so I'll see you later, alright? Bye Harry?"

Harry nodded at her dumbly, _he had obviously not taken the news too well_, Hermione thought guiltily. She then reassured herself that it didn't really make much difference that she had not told him earlier, and that it wasn't her fault in any way.

Hermione walked into another aisle, hearing Ron's words "He's a Slytherin!" behind her.

Hermione walked down aisle 14 and pulled a thick volume from a high up shelf. _Complete Guide to the Wizarding World during the Middle Ages_, it read. _Perfect_, thought Hermione, _just what I needed_. She added the book to her reading materials and left the library.

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Hermione got to her common room and settled herself comfortably into the big red couch by the fire. She opened the book at the top of the enormous pile and proceeded to read. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours. Hermione was so fully engaged in the book that she did not realise the time, until a loud knocking brought her back to reality. She looked at the clock and discovered that she had missed lunch, forgotten all about it! The knock was louder this time, more urgent and Hermione could hear sobbing. She immediately went to unlock the portrait from the inside.

A red eyed Ginny rushed into the room and into her arms. She was crying uncontrollably. Hermione hesitantly patted her on the back.

"Is anything the matter Ginny? Tell me."

Ginny wiped a few tears from her eyes, all the while still clinging onto Hermione.

"It was aw—awful!" Ginny gulped down tears and managed to say at last, "Harry and Ron…they were just saying such terrible things to me…and…and…I said mean things to them…and so now…" She broke down once again and buried her head against Hermione's neck.

"What happened after that?" Hermione gently asked her, dreading the event.

"Ron told me that I would no longer be his sister nor would he accept my relationship with Blaise!"

Hermione slid her arms higher up Ginny's back, hugging her tighter.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it." She said kindly, "He was probably just really angry because it came as a shock, and so said it as a spur of the moment thing. Harry's still talking to you right?"

Ginny shook her head sadly.

"No, both of them hate me. I don't know whether to be angry or be guilty. Blaise is…he is so good to me. I won't give him up. But I don't want to mess up my relationship with my family or friends either! I don't want to choose."

Ginny looked up at Hermione pleadingly.

After a moment, Hermione reassured her with the words she knew Ginny wanted to hear, "Don't worry. It's all going to be fine. Just give it a few days and they'll come round. You'll see."

Ginny seemed to brighten a little.

"Let's go to class alright Ginny?" Hermione asked her, "If you need any help come look for me."

Ginny nodded and left the room. Hermione put a bookmark in her book and set it aside on the table. She would finish it later in the afternoon.

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Cadria paced around her room. It was rare that she felt jealous, but today was one of those days. All day she had seen people going up to Ginny and congratulating her on finding such a good boyfriend, while she herself was boyfriend-less.

Cadria wasn't boyfriend-less because she couldn't get one. No, she could have at least half of the boys in the whole school drop at her feet if she wanted to; it was because she looked down upon them. The only boys she had ever liked were always taken or not interested.

Cedric Diggory? He was her first boyfriend but then they broke up and he dated Cho Chang casually for a while, before he died that is. Terry Boot? Her own sister was dating him. Greg McHaley was another good looking Ravenclaw, but he also had a girlfriend. Of course, there was always Dominic Rurnby, but everyone suspected that he was gay and therefore NOT INTERESTED in girls. The last person on the list was Blaise Zabini. He was sexy and was her prime target. She had thought that maybe he would even have asked her out someday, because they both belonged to the same circle. It was all Ginny's fault. She had ruined everything.

Feeling jealous, but even more so, vengeful, Cadria plotted and laid out a plan in her head on how to get Ginny back.

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It was after dinner. Hermione was walking to her room when she was stopped by Ginny. The younger girl looked much happier than the last time she had seen her, and she was beaming brightly at Hermione.

"What are your plans for tonight Hermione?" she asked.

"Nothing. I've decided to have a quiet night in my room, reading." Ginny looked at her with disproval.

"No you're not. There's going to be a party tonight in the Hufflepuff dorms. We are going."

"No I'm not, you know I hate parties."

Ginny looked at her pleadingly, "But what if Harry and Ron are there? You said that you'd be there for me didn't you?"

Hermione gave in.

"Okay okay." She said reluctantly.

"Let's get ready then!" Ginny grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the dormitories, running.

Hermione sighed. She was definitely not going to finish that book tonight.

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_AN: Sorry about the wait on this chapter everyone! This chapter was not that entertaining, but is anyone interested about the plan that Cadria has? I am! _

_Love it? Hate it? Indifferent to it? Please leave a review! Thanks~_


	11. Revenge is Sweet, or is it?

_AN: I am so sorry everyone :'( I broke my promise of updating every week, because currently my life has been so much busier than I had anticipated. This is no excuse for breaking a promise I know but I don't think I'll be able to update as often. On a brighter note, I'm really quite happy with this chapter because [drum roll please] I HAVE FOUND A BETA! She is amazing and I can't believe my good fortune to find someone as amazing at her. And random fact... I have started learning guitar :)_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. They belong to J.K Rowling. Only the plot belongs to me. I also cannot claim credit for the work of my beta, and also for the pick up lines because they were from facebook.**

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Thank you my lovely reviewers! Without you my story would not be possible. Seriously, no joke.

_LadySelena.16, bunny08, jayd-n33, BroadwayNightOwl, C O O K i E x M O N S T E R, tashxdm, Christianna Rico, minerdude, soccercrazyfreak, MysteryShadow101, Charlotte1993, 28Mandy28, harrypotterlover123, LynZann, bri, MrsBlaCKwIfeY, Lummylicious_

_And a BIG thankyou to Lummylicious, my beta! 3_

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RECAP:

Cadria has been getting jealous of Ginny in the last chapter...

_Feeling jealous, but even more so, vengeful, Cadria plotted and laid out a plan in her head on how to get Ginny back..._

And Ginny managed to persuade Hermione to go to a party...

_"No I'm not, you know I hate parties."_

_Ginny looked at her pleadingly, "But what if Harry and Ron are there? You said that you'd be there for me didn't you?"_

_Hermione gave in._

_"Okay okay." She said reluctantly._

_"Let's get ready then!" Ginny grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the dormitories, running._

_Hermione sighed. She was definitely not going to finish that book tonight._

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter 11: Revenge is Sweet, or is it?_

A tall and buff brunette approached Hermione, who was sitting in a comfortable chair sipping at a glass of water.

"So you're the _Head_ Girl this year, huh? hmm....." he looked down at her. Hermione nodded, before she realised just _exactly_ what he meant, then blushed like mad.

"I…errr…no…I thought you meant…" Hermione stuttered, not wanting to be misunderstood. The boy, a sixth year, winked at her and held out a glass filled with orange liquid.

"Would you like a butterbeer?" Hermione politely shook her head and wished that he would just leave her alone. Oblivious to her discomfort, the boy continued, "It's a portkey. Next thing you know we'll be back in my room." He laughed at his own little joke and Hermione scrunched up her face in disgust. Just as the boy made a grab for her hand she was saved by the return of a familiar head of red.

"Get away from her, Mitchell." Ginny glared at the boy.

'Hey, I was just trying to get to know her better.'

Ginny rolled her eyes, hands on hips. 'I'm sure you were.'

He shrugged before heading off in another direction. As soon as he left, Ginny's expression changed from annoyance to utmost amusement.'So, which pickup line did he use?'

'You're really getting a kick out of this, aren't you?' Hermione groaned.

Ginny grinned at her. "You know I am. Now tell me what he said!"

Dutifully, Hermione recounted his words, and to her horror, Ginny jotted them down in a little notebook, under the previous entries:

_"-How 'bout you and me go look for the Room of Requirement?_

-I must need Occlumency, because I can't seem to get you out of my thoughts.

-I don't have an Invisibility Cloak, but do you think I can visit your restricted section tonight?

-If you were a Quaffle, and I was a Chaser,I'd score with you.

-I must have had some Felix Felicis, because I think I'm about to get lucky.

-I can be your house elf. I'll do whatever you want and I don't need any clothes."

Yes, these were the pickup lines several very, very sorry boys had used in misguided attempts to seduce Hermione Granger, and it had only been an hour since the party had begun. The latest one seemed to be causing Ginny the most amusement. Tired of it all, Hermione chewed on the ends of her hair. Ginny reached across and slapped her hand away.

"Ouch!" Hermione retorted angrily. "What was that for?"

"Draco Malfoy's looking at you," Ginny whispered slyly to Hermione,snuggling closer to her boyfriend. Blaise, thankfully, was too busy talking to a group of Seventh Years to be listening to their conversation. Hermione cautiously shifted her eyes across the room and wasn't surprised to find a pair of grey, stormy eyes carefully watching her, analyzing her every move. Quickly she looked away, but not before a faint blush appeared in her cheeks.

And, try as she might, she could not keep her eyes off him. It seemed to be the same for him, because out of the corner of her eye, she could see his head inclined in her direction. Beside him stood Pansy, and Hermione wondered how and why the Slytherins were at a party in the Hufflepuff dorms. Things must have changed a lot, she thought. It was only last year that Voldemort had been defeated and the threat of evil had been extinguished from the Wizarding world, but from the way things were, it seemed like so much longer.

The barriers between Muggleborns and Purebloods had been reduced a great deal, and invisible lines that had separated the Slytherins and Gryffindors had been crossed. Those who had poured their sweat and blood into the war, however, were still unable to move on from the hatred and regret of the past. Such was the situation between Harry and Ron and the Malfoys. Lucius Malfoy was locked away in Azkaban, and it was believed that Narcissa had fallen ill during the absence of her husband. To be honest, Hermione almost pitied Draco. Though Lucius must have been a terrible father—Hermione was sure of it— they were Draco's parents, and Draco must have harboured some amount of feelings towards them.

Of course, Harry and Ron weren't making it any easier for him. Hermione could have reprimanded them for their terrible treatment of Draco; that is, if it weren't for the fact that Draco taunted them as well.

Ginny waved a hand in front of Hermione's face.

"You there Hermione? He's walking over…He's coming this way!"

Hermione didn't need to ask who Ginny meant by 'him'. Sure enough, in a matter of seconds Draco had approached them.

"Care to dance?" He offered her his hand.

Inside, Hermione screamed out silent shrieks of 'YES!' but on the outside she had to remain calm. "I don't think Pansy would be too happy to see us dancing, don't you think?" Pansy was also another problem she didn't know how to solve. As she was replying to him, Draco had reached out with his hand, and held her small hand in his. He gently but surely tried to pull her to the middle of the room, where there was a makeshift dance floor. All the couches had been pushed back and revealed a circular space of floor that many people were now milling about on.

"Why do you care what she thinks?" He spoke softly into her ear, and his breath tickled her skin. Her reflexes caused her to suddenly jerk back and she quickly pulled her hand out of his grasp, alarmed. Embarrassed by her peculiar actions, Hermione got up from her chair and hurriedly made her way towards the bathrooms. Ginny saw her leave and excused herself from Blaise, then quickly followed her. Draco was left very bewildered. He shared look of confusion with Blaise, then made his way back across the room towards Pansy, who was by now quite angry at him. Who knew how long it was before Hermione came back, and would she talk to him again after that rejection she had given him?

-.-

'What was that, Hermione?'Ginny growled angrily at her friend, once the bathroom door had been carefully shut behind them and the "Muffliato" Charm had been cast. 'He was asking you to dance and you rejected him!'

Hermione had gone back to nibbling on the ends of her hair, a bad habit she had developed when she was troubled or worried.

'I was…nervous?' she suggested vaguely. Hermione didn't know how to explain to her friend that every time she saw Draco, her breath would catch in her throat, and her heart would start begin beating at incredible speeds. The blood had rushed to her face, and more importantly, her brain, combined with the lack of oxygen, had made her act like a complete freak! She hadn't even told Ginny that she liked him yet—wait—she LIKED him? Well, yes, I do, Hermione admitted it to herself. Immense relief washed over her as she finally said it to herself. She did like him- a lot. Well, more than a lot, actually...

'You listen to me carefully, alright? We are going to go back in there and the next time he offers you his hand to dance, you will not hesitate. You will accept,' Ginny commanded her.

Hermione continued to stare at her reflection, chewing away at her brunette ends. Ginny grabbed hold of her shoulders and spun her round to face her.'You shouldnt give a damn about what others think, Hermione. It's your life! So what if you like Draco Malfoy?'

Hermione abandoned her nibbling, her mouth falling open in a mixture of astonishment and incredulity as she looked up from the ground. 'How did you know that I… l-l-' she gulped nervously. '-l-like Draco?"

'Oh please, Hermione,' Ginny said, waving her hand. 'I'm your best friend. If I can't read you like an open book, who else is supposed to? And besides, you make it quite obvious. Anyone who reads the signs right can tell, and I would obviously read the signs right.' Ginny winked at her. 'Come on! Let's go and prepare for phase one of "seducing Malfoy".'

Hermione giggled as Ginny tugged her out of the bathroom, both full of high hopes for the night ahead.

-.-

When the two girls returned, their seats were occupied by some 6th years. One of them was sitting at an extreme proximity to Blaise, who seemed oblivious. Ginny marched up to the girl.

"Excuse me, you're in my seat." Ginny glared at the strawberry blonde.

The girl looked up at Ginny haughtily, "This chair doesn't have your name on it. Go find somewhere else to sit."

Blaise sensed that his girlfriend was on the verge of making a scene, judging by the fact that her cheeks were the same hue as her hair.

"Come Ginny, sit on my lap." He patted his knee; Ginny remained standing.

"Not until that tart backs off from you."

The blonde's false smile faded, replaced by an ugly scowl.

"You have no right to talk to me like that," she said in warning tones.

"What makes you think I was talking to you, slut?" Ginny retorted.

"Ginny…" Blaise tried again, to no effect.

Ginny's mouth was pressed into a thin line and her eyes were narrowed at the Hufflepuff. Her right hand was inching closer and closer to her wand, which was safely tucked away in a hidden pocket along the seam of her loose flowing dress. Her opponent had realised this too, as she was opening the clutch she had in her hand, no doubt to retrieve her wand.

The whole room was fixed on them right now. The guys, excluding Blaise and his friends, were all cheering for the blonde. The girls watched on worriedly, but made no move to stop them. It was then that Pansy stepped in.

"Claudia, you may be one of the hosts of this party, but please remember that Ginny is friends with me. I will not tolerate you anymore than I need to, and you are riding on my last nerve tonight," Pansy said coolly, and the blonde immediately bowed her head in a mixture of obedience and shame. Seeing that the girl had been put back in her place, Pansy turned around and floated back to Draco. Ginny and Hermione followed her, not wanting to stay in the blonde's company for a moment longer. Claudia shot Ginny a hateful look as she turned away. In response, Ginny took Blaise by the hand and, immediately, half a dozen or so boys all stood up and followed them. They left Claudia in the corner of the room, boy-less.

"That should teach her…" Hermione heard Ginny mutter angrily under her breath.

Hermione was just glad that things had not gotten any worse, or else somebody got hurt and the teachers found out about this rendezvous. Hermione smiled as she imagined the teachers discovering that _Hermione Granger_ was at a _party_ after curfew and _breaking school rules_.

Aira handed her a glass of firewhiskey as she sat down.

"Just water thanks."

Aira rolled her eyes and put the firewhiskey back onto a table and produced a glass of water. Hermione gladly accepted it. Ginny accio'd her own drink from across the room. The group soon settled into easy conversation. Hermione, however, avoided making eye-contact with Draco.

It wasn't until Draco directed a question at her that she was forced to look at him. Unsteadily, her own warm brown eyes met his cold grey ones.

"Of course I don't drink, who knows what kind of things I might get up to under the influence of firewhiskey."

Everybody laughed at this except for Draco and Hermione.

"Things you _really_ want to do, but you don't because you're too afraid of what people may think to act on it." Draco's voice was soft and Hermione could barely hear him over the loud laughter from the others. It was said so low and so softly in fact that Hermione wasn't sure if she heard correctly. Just as she was about to ask him to repeat it, a sudden gasp brought the attention of the entire to Aira.

In her hand, was an almost empty glass of firewhiskey. _Ginny's_ glass of firewhiskey to be exact.

Aira's usually sharp gaze gave way to a dreamy far-away look in her eyes. Chantelle waved a hand in front of her face. Aira was unfazed, and appeared to be looking at a far-off spot in the distance, or not seeing anything with her eyes at all. There was no doubt about what the problem with Aira was: Somebody had spiked her (or rather Ginny's) drink with a love potion. Everybody waited for the inevitable to happen.

"The moon is so beautiful tonight," whispered Aira, she then frantically looked from person to person, "has anybody seen Neville? I want to share this beautiful moon with him."

Draco's jaw dropped. So did everybody else's. _Longbottom_?? Obviously the others were thinking the same thing.

"Neville? _He_ spiked my drink?" Ginny was trying to get her head around the fact that the clumsy albeit sweet Gryffindor would do something like this to her. Beside her, Blaise looked menacing as he tensed up the muscles in his arm.

"It can't be Neville!" Hermione stood up for him, she did not believe that he would do something like this.

"Yeah, it can't be him," Pansy snickered, "he doesn't even have half the brains to create a potion as complicated as this!"

Hermione didn't like Pansy making fun of Neville like that, but at least it cleared him of suspicions and meant that he escaped from a confrontation with Blaise.

Everybody was so wrapped up with finding the culprit that they forgot about the matter at hand: Aira. The dark beauty was nowhere in sight. A high pitched laughter could be heard from outside in the corridors and there was no mistake, it was Aira's. The whole room full of people had noticed the potion's effect on Aira by now, and they were all greatly amused. They all followed her out into the dark hallways.

Aira made her way towards the Gryffindor dorms. Hermione tried convincing her to go back inside but unlike others under the spell, Aira was still intelligent enough to not be deceived and retained some of her senses. This meant a much harder job for Cadria, who was trying to trick Aira into the Slytherin dungeons.

"We need to get the antidote."

Ginny broke off into a run, followed by Blaise. The rest of the people trailed after Aira, anxious to see what she would do. Aira clearly did not disappoint. Effortlessly, she made her way up to the Gryffindor tower. When she got to the portrait she said the password ('harper') and went in.

"How did she know our password?" Hermione found herself whispering to Dean, who she had just noticed was standing next to her.

"I don't know, maybe she had a 'relationship' with someone in our house." Dean suggested. "All I know is that we should change our password after this." He gestured to the crowd of people.

"Definitely" Hermione agreed.

Loud whooping noises now came from within. Hermione and Dean were the last ones to race inside, everybody else had already pushed past eager to see what was happening. They arrived just in time to see Aira step onto her tippy toes (a nearly impossible feat in her killer high heels) and pull Neville into a soppy, wet, passionate kiss, much to his confusion.

A few sleepy eyed Gryffindors came out of their dorms, woken up by the loud racquet. Harry and Ron were one of them. Ron grumbled as he rubbed his eyes, then his mouth fell open in astonishment at the scene before him: 70 students surrounding a Neville, whose lips were being ferociously attacked by Aira.

"Bloody hell."

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_There you go guys. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and it's slightly longer and better to make up for the last one. _

_IMPORTANT: I am incredibly bad at summaries. That is why I'd like YOU to send me ideas for summaries for Queen Bees and Wannabes :D I'll pick out my favourite one and use it, to replace the awful summary I have now :) So, if you think you are funny/original/smart/dumb/crazy/creative or if you have a brain and can THINK at all then please send ideas! Thank you~_

_And PLEASE, read and review because they really make my day (or rather evening because I'm sitting here finishing dinner as I type this) THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!_


	12. Broken Friendships & Broken Noses

_AN: I actually finished writing this on Friday night (I know, it's sad that I have no life right?) but fanfiction wouldn't let me upload. It wasn't until Monday when I did it at school that I could FINALLY send it off to my beta. Like always, really sorry about the length of time it took. On the upside, this is the last week of term so starting next week I would think there would be a chapter a week again. Maybe even two if both me and my wonderful beta aren't busy :)_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. And this is only around the... 12th time that I have said this?**

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Incredibly BIG thank-yous to everybody who has reviewed!

_MysteryShadow101, Leanora, NotSoSlightlyCrazy, raex3 xoxo, Lummylicious, bubbbbbba_25, tashxdm, Charlotte1993, MistySorrow, lila123, jayd-n33, LadySelena.16, Azn-Jenn, bringITback, librastar, SnowCharms, Sugarlover, Mya84, Sammyok01_

And of course my beta **Lummylicious**

You guys are all amazing! =D

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The Story So Far:

With many people bearing witness, Aira made out with Neville due to the effects of a drink spiked with a love potion. The drink was intended for Ginny... so who's the culprit?

_Loud whooping noises now came from within. Hermione and Dean were the last ones to race inside, everybody else had already pushed past eager to see what was happening. They arrived just in time to see Aira step onto her tippy toes (a nearly impossible feat in her killer high heels) and pull Neville into a soppy, wet, passionate kiss, much to his confusion._

_A few sleepy eyed Gryffindors came out of their dorms, woken up by the loud racquet. Harry and Ron were one of them. Ron grumbled as he rubbed his eyes, then his mouth fell open in astonishment at the scene before him: 70 students surrounding a Neville, whose lips were being ferociously attacked by Aira._

_"Bloody hell."_

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_Queen Bees and Wannabes_

_Chapter 12: Broken Friendships & Broken Noses_

As always at Hogwarts, news travelled like wildfire. By lunch the next day, it seemed that all anyone could talk about was Aira and Neville's little 'incident'. There were insane rumours floating around: Neville sending Aira a Valentine every year, without receiving so much as a second glance, thus resorting to a love potion; Aira was desperately in love with Neville but always too embarrassed to admit it (followed by cries of "who wouldn't be?")- so she had pretended to have been spiked with a love potion to have the opportunity to snog him senseless and get away with it. The most believableof the lot was that one of Ginny's old friends were jealous of her newfound popularity (in the current issue of 'Hogwarts' Hot or Not' she had been voted fourth by the boys, after Pansy, Aira and a 6th year called Samantha) and they had wanted to get back at her. Names of suspects were flying left and right and Pansy could only watch with a half-amused, half-annoyed expression.

"I've had enough. Whoever did it just own up to the crime already." She tried to dissect everyone around her with her bare eyes.

"My reputation was ruined! How can it be funny?" Aira wailed. It had been the most embarrassing moment of her life, and now she had to live through the aftermath.

"Whatever you say, I thought it was pretty funny." Blaise snickered wickedly. "Especially when we had to threaten Neville to get you two apart. You guys were all over each other and if it wasn't for the antidote, I wouldn't doubt the fact that you two would still be at it till now."

"Hey, I took the hit for your girlfriend." Aira shot back, extremely annoyed that everybody was finding this so amusing. "If I hadn't, then she would be the one who might have been still at it till now with Neville."

Blaise's face darkened visibly. "Not if I had anything to do with it. If that was my girlfriend, then believe me, Neville would have been lying in the hospital wing in a coma."

"Blaise!" Pansy shot him an impatient look. "Can we just get to the point here? Who spiked the drink?"

"How do you know that it was one of us?" Hermione looked at her worriedly. "I mean, why would friends do that to each other?"

Pansy sighed and muttered something under her breath that sounded like 'Gryffindors'. She then turned her eyes to focus on one individual who had not said a word the whole morning.

Cadria was sitting between Aira and Chantelle with her arms folded across her chest.

"Last chance." Pansy's tone was sharp, eyebrows raised pointedly at Cadria.

"Fine," Cadria's gaze remained unwaveringly on Pansy, "I spiked the drink." A short gasp was heard, obviously from Hermione.

"Why would you do that?" Ginny was the first to regain her voice.

"You honestly don't know?" Cadria rolled her large blue-green eyes sceptically.

Blaise banged his fist down on the table, causing the plates and goblets to rattle ominously. He would never ever hit a girl, but right now he had a very strong urge to punch Cadria, hard, in the face.

Ginny, in her agitation, did nothing to restrain him. 'Why? What the hell did I ever do to you?'

"Well, let's just keep it simple: I HATE YOU. You've destroyed my life! You've taken my popularity, you've stolen all my male attention!" She jumped to her feet. 'You need more? Oh, you're going out with the guy I was so close to dating with and now you have the nerve to say that YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO ME?" Cadria's voice only grew in volume and shrillness, emphasizing each of her last six words with angry stomping of her feet that echoed Bliase.

There was no doubt about it, Cadria had cracked.

Her eyes were dangerously watery, and her shoulders shook from the outburst. After a few deep breaths and gulps of air, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the hall.

For the second time in a few minutes, everyone was left open mouthed and at a loss for words. They glanced at each other, not knowing how to react. It was then that Chantelle stood up.

"Sorry everyone, but I'm going to comfort her. And Ginny," she turned to face the red head. "a word of warning- Cadria won't give up this easily."

The petite blonde quickly stepped over her chair and scurried away to look for her twin.

A further moment of silence ensued.

"Wow," said Draco, finally breaking the ice, "are all girls that petty?"

"Nope, it's just that one," Ginny muttered angrily. "What an absolute bitch."

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History of Magic class. Professor Binns cheerily floated into the classroom. Or at least he came into the classroom through the blackboard (one of his many habits) and looked as happy as a ghost could, being semi-transparent and all.

"We have a test tomorrow." Though it was said in his normal monotonic voice, there was a slight lift on the word 'test'.

The class emitted the synchronised groan which they perfected for special occasions such as these. The only one not to do so was Hermione, who secretly punched the air with a soft whisper of 'Yes!' The Professor seemed oblivious to all this and continued just as he had any other day, beginning to read aloud his notes whilst the class started finding ways to occupy themselves for the next hour and a half.

"Pssst…Granger!" Draco threw a scrunched up ball of paper at her head. Hermione turned around. She raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Tutor me tonight at the usual time?"

"Sure." Hermione shrugged and nodded.

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5:49pm.

Hermione sat at the desk flipping through the pages of the massive volume to prepare for her next tutoring session which, judging by the clock on the wall, was prompted to start in eleven minutes. As if on cue, Draco happened to walk into the common room right that moment, shirt already halfway off his body on his way to the shower.

"I'll be ready in five."

Hermione nodded.

Seven minutes later Draco and Hermione were both sitting at the desk pouring over the pages of the textbook.

"Eleventh century?" Hermione turned her chair around to face him, holding the book in her lap. Her knees lightly touched his and she felt queasy, though he didn't show any reaction.

"The first records of Quidditch, played in Queerditch Marsh," Draco answered promptly without hesitation, "though the next mention of Quidditch was in the twelfth century where similar details to modern Quidditch have been noted. It was also during that century when Golden Snidget-hunting was a popular form of sport. In 1269, Barberus Bragge, Chief of the Wizards' Council, encouraged the chase of a Golden Snidget during Quidditch matches. Oh, and in the mid 14th century Snidget-hunting was banned and so the inventor Bowman Wright invented the 'Golden Snitch' to replace them."

"Good, and what was Quidditch known as during the twelfth century?"

"Cuaditch."

Hermione smiled at him, "Okay, next topic. Tell me all you know about Auroleus Phillipus Theostratus Bombastus von Hohenheim." She swayed in her chair and her legs playfully knocked against his. Draco swallowed.

"He was also known as Paracelsus…um…great man, he was. He was a scientist and alchemist who made many contributions to pharmacology and medicine. Really cool dude. Absolutely brilliant." Draco grinned at her winningly.

"You really don't know much about him, do you?" Hermione asked, trying to repress her amusement.

"Nope," Draco admitted happily. "Just what it says on the back of the Chocolate Frog cards."

Hermione sighed, shaking her head."Alright then, we'll go onto the next topic…."

The next hour and a half was spent with Hermione quizzing Draco on the goblin uprisings, the witch trials and even things from the previous years.

"Hey! That's not fair. We haven't been studying the founding of Hogwarts at all this year." Draco grumbled when Hermione began to ask him questions on the four founders.

"It's the history of our school, so we're bound to be tested on this somewhere in the test. Anyway, it's not as if more information would make your brain burst or something."

"No, it just contributes to anti-social behaviour and makes you a complete and utter know-it-all," Draco teased. Hermione glared at him. "Hey, we both know that it's true," Draco continued. 'What's the point in trying to deny it, really?'

"Jerk." Hermione had resorted to name calling.

"Ugly." So had Draco.

"Bastard."

"Nerd."

"Brat."

Each insult they spat at each other, their faces drifted closer and closer, their eyes narrowing until they were slits.

"Bitch."

"Vile."

"Goody-two shoes."

"Whore."

"At least I'm not a prude."

They were so close now that Hermione could feel his breath on her face. Out of insults, she remained quiet, but Draco was not done.

"Have you ever even been kissed?" Hermione tilted back in her chair, their proximity dangerous. His legs were brushing against hers; she could hear a loud ba-dump ba-dump ringing in her ears.

"Y-y-yes," Hermione finally stammered, her heart racing wildly at her half-truth.

"How far have you gone…Granger?" By now their lips were no more than a centimetre apart.

"What are y-you doing?"

"Do you remember Granger, some nights ago, when you came into my room and stole a kiss from me?"

Hermione made an unintelligable noise that sounded like a half-attempted denial.

"Well, I'm just taking that kiss back." And his lips were on hers.

His mouth moved forcefully against her own, which were unmoving in shock. She could feel his teeth bite down on her lips, making them bleed a little. A hand came up to cup her cheek and with it he pulled her face closer still. His tongue was pressed against her mouth and he could taste the blood. At first she remained motionless, not knowing what to do; but soon her instincts took over and she found herself kissing him back. Her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and his other hand went to the small of her back. She clutched at his hair, messing up the usual neatness it was kept in. Draco pulled her towards him, with the result of her in his lap, all the while not breaking off the kiss. The hand that was cupping her face moved to rest at the back of her head, grabbing a fistful of brown locks. The weight of his hand that was grasping her hair caused her some pain, but she was too wrapped up in the kiss to notice.

'Dong…dong…dong…dong…dong…' chiming of the clock brought Hermione back to reality, the thought of what she was doing registered in her mind. Hastily, she pushed Draco away and made to stand up. His arm was still around her waist and he was not intending on letting her go, his mouth against hers. Agitated, she landed a punch on his nose to get him to release her.

"Oww!" Quickly he let her go and clutched at his nose. '...dong…dong…DONG'. With the last decisive chime Hermione widened her eyes and gasped. Draco's hands were soon stained with red, but it took only a moment before she slipped back into her logical self.

"Hospital wing. Now."

Draco nodded feebly and quickly they rushed out of their common room and made a rush for the stairs.

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When they got there Madam Pomfrey had just finished applying soothing cream to some gashes on the arm of a second year student, who had the misfortune to hit the Whomping Willow when they were riding their broomstick. As she took in the sight before her: Hermione Granger hurrying, followed closely by a scowling Draco Malfoy, she sighed.

"What now Miss Granger? Mister Malfoy? What has happened this time?" She had not forgotten the last time one of them had lost their temper and injured the other. Not in a long while would she, either.

"Well…err…Malfoy frightened me, and then I accidentally hit him." Hermione quickly made up an excuse quite close to the truth. She nudged Draco and in response he scowled again and nodded.

Madam Pomfrey tut-tutted. "Let's get you cleaned up then Mister Malfoy."

She made her way towards the medicine cabinet, then produced a small purple vial.

"Take this, it should help with the pain."

Draco complied and drank the potion in one gulp before making a tormented face.

Hermione felt quite guilty. "Is he going to be alright Madame Pomfrey?"

"Heavens child! He's only got a bruised nose and nosebleed." Saying this, she took her wand from a pocket in her white frock and used it to clear away the blood. "It's all better, see?"

She waved a hand at them, shooing them away.

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Dinner had almost finished by the time the pair got down to the hall.

"What happened?" Blaise pointedly asked. Pansy and Aira both looked at him curiously. Crabbe and Goyle were far too busy stuffing their faces to notice his return.

"Never suddenly surprise Granger, that's what." Draco kept to the story that she had made up.

Satisfied, the group returned to either consuming the dessert (Blaise) or picking at their salad and taking fragile bites out of the chicken (Pansy and Aira).

Rubbing his nose, which was now an ugly bluish colour that did not effect the overall magnificence of his appearance, Draco whispered to Hermione,"Why is it _always_ you and my nose?"

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_ AN: I hope that you have enjoyed that :) I must say I was quite disappointed with the lack of response for my new summary... but thank you to those who have given me ideas (**lila123** and **MysteryShadow101**)_

_And now I must go catch up on sleep (should be in bed by now) or else I won't be able to wake up yet again for school tomorrow. G'night all!_

_Love it? Hate it? Indifferent? Leave me a review so I can know thanks~_


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